City Government

Judge Backs Placing Civilian Complaint Intake in Police Department

Published

12 years ago

September 13, 2013

Federal Judge Thelton Henderson and federal Compliance Director Thomas Frazier surprised police accountability activists this week when they announced they have decided to place civilian complaint intake technicians within the Internal Affairs Division of the Oakland Police Department.

Their decision effectively overrules the Oakland City Council, which had voted to allocate funds in the budget to hire intake technicians within the Civilian Police Review Board (CPRB).

Frazier said that he had met with Henderson this week and that they had decided that the intake unit should be part of the Oakland Police Department, according to an email Frazier send Wednesday to Rashidah Grinage, executive director of PUEBLO, who has been one of those spearheading recent police accountability efforts.

Rashidah Grinage, Executive Director of PUEBLO speaking to the Finance and Management committee of Oakland City Counci

Rashidah Grinage, Executive Director of PUEBLO addressing the Finance and Management committee of the Oakland City Council on Tuesday.

Frazier had previously sent an email to Grinage saying he wanted the civilian intake technicians to be trained within the police department but that he did not object to having the technicians housed at CRBP, which means they would be under civilian supervision.

Henderson’s office said the judge did not take calls from the media. At press time, Compliance Director Frazier had not returned a request for an interview from the Post.

Grinage said she understands why Compliance Director Frazier might want to place all intake of complaints against police within the OPD., though she does not agree with him.

“My guess is the compliance director’s primary goal is to bring the police into compliance with the Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA),” which commits the city to police reform and assigns the federal court to oversee the agreement.

“He probably doesn’t think this is worth making the police angry,” said Grinage. “If I were in his place, I might have the same point of view.

However, Grinage said, “I am in the process of writing a letter to the judge because he did not have a full picture or the full context for this, when he made his decision.

“He’s entitled to know how the community views this. We don’t believe he received that perspective from Tom Frazier, ” she said, adding that she hopes City Council members will also write letters as will members of the Citizens Police Review Board.

“We can give this our best shot to try to convince Judge Henderson that this is misguided and it is not going to advance the objectives of the NSA, which is to advance police community relations and is going to set that back substantially.

Given all the backroom maneuvering over this issue with the City Administration and the Oakland Police Officer Association, she said, “We believe it’s time to go to the ballot. The final decision should be in the hands of the voters.

“We will be working with others on crafting the entire overall of civilian oversight functioning in Oakland, to create a much more vigorous and complete civilian oversight agency, similar to what exists in San Francisco and other major cities.”

Such a reorganization would redirect the authority to discipline officers from the city administrator to a police commission, she said.

In response to questions from the Post, Mayor Jean Quan said she supported placing all complaint intake workers at the CPRB, though she said the city’s options are limited by federal oversight.

“Since I was on the City Council, I’ve worked toward an independent, civilian model for taking in complaints about police officers,” said Quan. “This will free up sworn officers to go out on patrol where we need them the most, and help make residents feel more comfortable filing their complaints.

“Right now we are working with Compliance Director Tom Frazier on how the process of these changes will work.”

Civil Rights Attorney John Burris said his work for the past 10 years with the NSA has not involved the intake of complaints.

However, he said, “It’s always been important for the citizens and those that come in contact with the police to have an individual group to conduct an investigation.”

“If you want independence, it should be outside (the police department),” Burris said.

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Richmond Community Leaders Advocate for Accountability and Equity in Chevron Settlement Funds

“Now is the time for our community to have funding to solve the many problems that have been created over time,” said community advocate Antwon Cloird. “We now have no time to see politicians and the system get paid, while our community, year after year gets played.”

Published

4 days ago

September 14, 2025

Oakland Post

25 Long Term Residents of Richmond Form Coalition led by Community Advocate Antwon Cloird at CoBiz in Richmond. Photo Courtesy of Antwon Cloird.

By Carla Thomas

Richmond’s historic $550 million settlement with Chevron is considered a major victory by local officials, environmental justice advocates, and union representatives to remedy the harm caused by the refinery’s long-term air pollution in the city.

However, still unresolved is how the money will be allocated to reach community members who need the most support.

Cloird says he has formed a new coalition of 25 long-term residents who are all professionals and contributors to the community. Along with his newly formed group, which held a meeting at CoBiz, he demands transparency, equity, and fairness in the distribution of the settlement funds.

Cloird says the city wants to hire a consultant for $1.5 million to assess the Black community’s needs.

But Cloird says Black communities in Richmond have undergone so many rounds of gentrification abuse that an assessment is wasted money and time on reparations that can be more clearly defined by community members.

Cloird is outraged by the City of Richmond’s history of harm toward its Black community. Since the 1980s, the community has suffered from racism, redlining, gentrification, and marginalization, he said, arguing that the manipulation of the city’s finances has sidelined the Black community for too long.

Cloird’s career and life experiences have led him to share how the Crack Epidemic, the prison to pipeline syndrome, and the many ways systemic racism has forced an outmigration of the City’s Black community to the more northern suburbs of Pittsburgh and Antioch, which are connected to the mismanagement of city funds and the marginalization of several Black neighborhoods in Richmond.

Mayor Eduardo Martinez has proposed plans to rectify city finances and expand public services. He says the money will be placed into the city’s general fund and be allocated through open budget meetings, with public participation.

Council members Claudia Jimenez, Doria Robinson, and Sue Wilson support using the settlement to transform the city’s finances and redirect millions in annual pension payments toward services like safety, road repairs, and staffing.

Local advocacy groups, including the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) and Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), had rallied for the now-rescinded “Make Polluters Pay” measure, but are now focusing on environmental justice and investment in community-led programs.

At present, residents and organizers remain cautious, wanting to ensure the funds are fairly allocated while Richmond faces a delicate balance of supporting those who have suffered most from the impacts of refinery pollution.

Cloird says he does not trust the proposed plans to direct the money into the general fund.

“There has been a pattern of money not reaching the communities that have suffered the most when money goes into the general fund. Our coalition will fight for our community, and I want ensure we will have a viable community moving forward.”

The $550 million settlement with Chevron Corporation ended a high-profile campaign to impose new taxes on the oil giant’s local refinery. Approved by the Richmond City Council in August 2024, the agreement provides the city with a decade of financial installments, starting in July 2025.

The settlement emerged after a grassroots campaign demanded stronger accountability from Chevron for decades of air pollution linked to increased health risks in Richmond. The 2900-acre Chevron refinery, which processes approximately 240,000 barrels of crude oil daily, has long faced criticism from residents for contributing to elevated rates of respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular disease.

In response, local advocates and city leaders moved forward with a proposed “Make Polluters Pay” ballot measure that would have set a new tax of $1 per barrel of oil refined in the facility. The measure aimed to raise funds directly from Chevron to address public health, infrastructure, and environmental concerns.

To avoid the proposed tax, Chevron agreed to a $550 million payout over the next decade. Chevron will deliver $50 million annually from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2030, and $60 million annually from July 1, 2030, through June 30, 2035.