City Government

Council Members: OPD Must Recruit Local Residents, Women and People of Color

Published

9 years ago

July 15, 2016

A proposal advocating changes to the Oakland Police Department’s recruiting practices passed unanimously this week at a packed Public Safety Committee meeting.

“We have for many years received concerns about underrepresentation of people of Oakland, underrepresentation of people of color and particularly African Americans, and underrepresentation of LGBT people and women,” said Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, who sponsored the resolution.

“While still being able to fully respect all the difficult work our officers do every day, I think we can recognize that all these under-representations negatively impact our ability to strengthen the bonds of trust and mutual respect with the community,” she said, speaking at Tuesday’s meeting.

Rather than requesting policy adoption, Kaplan explained that the resolution was meant to propose a list of changes in how new police officers are picked and to research and report back on the feasibility of the changes.

The resolution listed 10 proposals for review, including prohibiting the use of marijuana as a grounds for rejecting an application, expanding outreach and strategies to mitigate underrepresentation of women, LGBT people and people of color in the department, and seeking a goal of at least 50 percent new hires to be from or have some connection with Oakland.

“There’s a huge difference between a local officer, meaning from here, and the other officers. They get a different response,” said public speaker Ron Muhammad.

Kaplan told council members that several people “were told they were rejected for past marijuana use” and that two OPD applicants were told they were rejected for having debt, which was addressed in the recommendation as well.

“We take people without a college education, but we don’t take people with a college education and student loan debt?” said Kaplan. “That is a significant problem if that is going on.”

Citing a recent letter from the Oakland Black Officers Association that raised concerns about Black officers being misrepresented in statements made by Mayor Libby Schaaf, Kaplan emphasized new practices must also look at how the department treats people once they are hired.

“As we are trying to recruit a police force that is reflective of Oakland, we don’t want to make the very folks we are having problems recruiting feel like they are being mistreated in a way that might scare applicants away,” she said.

The resolution will return to the Public Safety Committee at their next meeting on Sept. 13 with recommendations from Kaplan and the department as to how to implement the changes.

“Adding these areas to look at won’t fully address all of the issues we have with respect to the treatment and training,” said Councilmember Desley Brooks.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

10 hours ago

May 25, 2025

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IN MEMORIAM: Nate Holden, State Senator and Longtime Los Angeles Councilmember, Dies at 95

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.” Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Published

6 days ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Former Los Angeles Councilmember and California State Sen. Nate Holden. File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Nathaniel “Nate” Holden, a prominent figure in the city’s politics, passed away at the age of 95, his family confirmed on May 7.

Holden, who represented South Los Angeles for 16 years on the City Council and served one term in the California State Senate, was widely regarded as a forceful advocate for his community.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.”

Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Holden’s journey to political prominence began in the segregated South, where he was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1929. He often recalled the childhood moment when he first heard the governor of Georgia vowing to continue suppressing Black people.

“Doing the best you can for the people. Law and order. Make sure that people’s communities are safe. I did it all,” said Holden, reflecting on his legacy.

Holden is survived by his sons, including former California Assemblymember Chris Holden, who represented a district in Southern California that includes Pasadena and Altadena in Los Angeles County and cities in San Bernardino County.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

7 days ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.