City Government

Opinion: Mayor Must End Obstruction of Independent Police Commission

Published

5 years ago

May 10, 2019

Oakland’s Community Police Review Agency (CPRA) released a shocking report on May 3 exonerating four Oakland police officers who shot and killed an unconscious man, Joshua Pawlik, on March 11, 2018.

According to the report, Oakland police spent nearly an hour observing Mr. Pawlik while he lay on the ground, yet it took mere seconds for officers to kill him as he allegedly began to regain consciousness.

In January 2019, internal investigations by the Oakland Police Department (OPD) concluded that the officers’ use of lethal force was “objectively reasonable,” and that only minor discipline should be imposed on two supervisors, Sergeant Negrete, and Lieutenant Yu, for leadership failures.

Chief Anne Kirkpatrick then reduced the recommended discipline for supervisory failures, in effect, allowing her officers to escape nearly all responsibility after killing a sleeping man.

Kirkpatrick’s findings caught the attention of Robert Warshaw, a former police chief who serves as the Federal Monitor and Compliance Director for Oakland’s long-running Negotiated Settlement Agreement, a 2003 federal court settlement that was only supposed to last for five years.

In his report, Warshaw found that Kirkpatrick’s assessment was “disappointing and myopic,” and that OPD’s internal investigations were “deficient, non-invasive, and replete with leading questions that served as attempts to support the justification of the officers’ actions.”

Warshaw reversed Kirkpatrick’s findings, stating that the officers’ use of force was unlawful, and that Kirkpatrick had not, “adequately considered the event as a whole.”

In the months following, Oakland’s Police Commission has been waiting for CPRA to present their independent findings to the Commission for review and discussion.

Under the City Charter, when there is a conflict between OPD’s findings and CPRA’s findings, the Police Commission forms a Discipline Committee to make a final decision on officer discipline.

The report released by CPRA last Friday–after a year of supposed investigation—is a deeply disappointing rubber-stamp of OPD’s shoddy internal review. CPRA’s report shows that the agency failed to conduct an independent investigation, in part due to delays by OPD.

In its first year of oversight, the Police Commission has confronted obstruction at every turn, and CPRA’s report demonstrates that the consequences of this ongoing power struggle include a police department that is failing to adjust to civilian oversight, and a civilian review agency that was unable to produce an independent report for the Commission to review.

CPRA was not called to the scene. Four months after her officers killed Mr. Pawlik, Kirkpatrick had only provided CPRA with body camera footage and photos of the scene. CPRA’s investigator did not receive further materials from OPD for another six months.

It does not appear that CPRA conducted much of an investigation while waiting for OPD to turn over evidence. The Police Commission’s Enabling Ordinance requires that CPRA investigators videotape interviews of officers who are accused of serious misconduct. According to CPRA’s report, the investigator conducted only one interview.

Joan Saupé, the assigned investigator, wrote that, “Further interviews were not conducted due to concerns as to the reliability of the information given the time that has passed.”

CPRA’s report represents an unacceptable systemic failure. The Police Commission should reject the OPD-based book report written by CPRA, and demand that an actual independent investigation take place. It’s time for Mayor Libby Schaaf to get off the sidelines and fulfill her 2016 campaign promise to reform OPD.

The City Administration that she leads has produced several roadblocks that have resulted in violent police officers nearly escaping accountability for their actions. Libby claims that she’s “Oakland Tough.” It’s time for the Mayor to prove it by ending her administration’s obstruction of the independent Police Commission.

Henry Gage III is an attorney and member of the Oakland Coalition for Police Accountability.

Henry Gage III, Esq.

Posts by Henry Gage III, Esq.

City Government

San Pablo Appoints New Economic Development and Housing Manager

Kieron Slaughter has been appointed as the economic development & housing manager for the City of San Pablo. Since 2017, Slaughter has served as chief strategic officer for economic innovation in the City of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development. Previously, he served in a 2.5-year appointment in the Pacific West Region as one of 10 Urban Fellows in the United States National Park Service.

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Kieron Slaughter. Photo courtesy of the City of San Pablo

The Richmond Standard

Kieron Slaughter has been appointed as the economic development & housing manager for the City of San Pablo.

Since 2017, Slaughter has served as chief strategic officer for economic innovation in the City of Berkeley’s Office of Economic Development. Previously, he served in a 2.5-year appointment in the Pacific West Region as one of 10 Urban Fellows in the United States National Park Service.

Before that he was an associate planner in the City of Richmond’s Planning and Building Services Department from 2007-2015.

San Pablo City Manager Matt Rodriguez lauded Slaughter’s extensive experience in economic development, housing and planning, saying he will add a “valuable perspective to the City Manager’s Office.”

Slaughter, a Berkeley resident, will start in his new role on Nov. 12, with a base annual salary of $164,928, according to the City of San Pablo.

Oakland Post

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City Government

Aaron Osorio Rises Up Ranks to Become Richmond’s Fire Chief

For Aaron Osorio, it started with a ride along on a firetruck at age 10. “I thought it was the coolest job,” he said, adding, “I knew being in fire service would make a big difference in the community.” Now a 27-year fire service veteran, Osorio appears to approach his work with the same youthful exuberance. And that’s good for the city as Osorio was recently named chief of the historic Richmond Fire Department.

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Richmond Fire Department Chief Aaron Osorio. Courtesy photo

By Mike Kinney

The Richmond Standard

For Aaron Osorio, it started with a ride along on a firetruck at age 10.

“I thought it was the coolest job,” he said, adding, “I knew being in fire service would make a big difference in the community.”

Now a 27-year fire service veteran, Osorio appears to approach his work with the same youthful exuberance. And that’s good for the city as Osorio was recently named chief of the historic Richmond Fire Department.

Osorio is a San Francisco native who rose up the ranks in the Richmond Fire Department over the last 21 years before being elevated to chief.

He joined the department in 2002 and has served in multiple roles including firefighters, engineer, captain, battalion chief, training director and deputy fire chief. He said he truly loves working in this community.

While it isn’t common for a fire department to hire a chief that came up through its ranks, Osorio was credited by the city for serving Richmond well during uncommon times.

The city lauded him for developing internal policies and vaccination clinics during the initial COVID response, for supporting activation of the emergency operations center in response to a potential mudslide disaster in Seacliff last year, helping to draft mutual aid agreements and working to increase fire response capabilities for industrial incidents.

He’s also led departmental hiring and recruitment since 2018.

Osorio said it is an honor to be hired as chief and has big plans for the department moving forward. He said he wants to continue hiring and promoting for vacant positions, and also completing a strategic plan guiding the direction of the organization.

He also aims to replace and renovate a number of fire department facilities placed on the Capital Improvement Plan and create new ways to recruit that will enhance the diversity of the department.

Osorio said his experience within, and love for, the city of Richmond puts him in a good position to lead the department. He says he knows what is needed and also the challenges that are unique to the city.

“I look forward to utilizing that institutional knowledge to move the fire department forward in a positive direction and enhance the services we provide to the community,” the chief said.

Osorio holds a bachelor of science degree in Fire Administration and is also a California State Fire Marshal-certified chief officer, company officer, and state instructor.

He also holds numerous certifications in fire, rescue, hazardous material, and incident command.

The chief has been married to his wife, Maria, for 26 years and they have two sons, Roman and Mateo.

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

Oakland Awarded $28 Million Grant from Governor Newsom to Sustain Long-Term Solutions Addressing Homelessness

Governor Gavin Newsom announced the City of Oakland has won a$28,446,565.83 grant as part of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grant program. This program provides flexible grant funding to help communities support people experiencing homelessness by creating permanent housing, rental and move-in assistance, case management services, and rental subsidies, among other eligible uses.

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao

Governor Gavin Newsom announced the City of Oakland has won a$28,446,565.83 grant as part of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grant program.

This program provides flexible grant funding to help communities support people experiencing homelessness by creating permanent housing, rental and move-in assistance, case management services, and rental subsidies, among other eligible uses.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the Oakland City Administrator’s Office staff held a press conference today to discuss the grant and the City’s successful implementing of the Mayor’s Executive Order on the Encampment Management Policy.