City Government

Fired Oakland Police Chief Files Whistleblower Lawsuit Against the City

Published

5 years ago

August 20, 2020

Former Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick officially filed a lawsuit Aug. 19, alleging she was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for numerous whistleblower complaints regarding corruption and misconduct among police commissioners over the course of her three-year term — violating the California Labor Code and the Chief’s constitutional rights.

The lawsuit claims that Oakland’s police commissioners “routinely abuse their power,” and seek “special treatment,” as well as “frequently abuse and harass OPD staff and interfere in day-to-day operations, including by seeking unlawful access to confidential documents.” The lawsuit adds, “anybody who speaks out about these abuses is bullied, threatened, and retaliated against.”

“The city attorney has no comment at this time,” said Zoe Savitsky of the Oakland City Attorney’s Office.

In February, the Oakland Police Commission unanimously fired Kirkpatrick, “without cause,” but claimed that the decision had been a long time coming.

Following the decision, Kirkpatrick filed a legal claim against the city and said in an interview with KTVU she believed she was fired in part because she refused to fulfill special favors for members of the police commission. Most notably, because she refused to reimburse commissioner Ginale Harris for towing fees.

In response to Kirkpatrick’s claims, Oakland Police Commission Chair Regina Jackson responded in a February city hall meeting. “Kirkpatrick’s recent media games to try to attack the mayor or discredit this commission only reinforce we made the right decision…The idea that anyone would cast such a serious vote based on something so trifling as a towing fee or disagreement is quite frankly insulting.”

The commission, made up of seven Oakland residents, was established in 2016 and has been called the “most powerful and independent police commission in the country,” by Mayor Libby Schaaf, who chose to uphold the firing.

In 2019, Kirkpatrick came under scrutiny as police watchdog group Coalition for Police Accountability criticized her decision not to discipline four officers involved in the killing of 31-year-old homeless resident Joshua Pawlik on March 11.

Saskia Hatvany

Posts by Saskia Hatvany

Up Next

Oakland Activist and Organizer Denise A. Gums, 66

Don't Miss

California Fires Displace Thousands, Cause Dangerous Air Quality

Saskia Hatvany

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

Published

5 days ago

June 7, 2025

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

1 week ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.