Oakland welcomed their new police Floyd Mitchell on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Police Department will continue to stay under federal oversight – now in its 22nd year – as it still has three out of 50 mandated reforms that the court considers out of compliance.
One of the key reforms that has yet to be met is “Task 2” – conducting and completing Internal Affairs investigations into police misconduct in a timely manner.
Ransomware in 2023
At a court hearing on Thursday before U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick in San Francisco, Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell explained, from his perspective, why the process has been taking so long.
Mitchell told the judge that the 2023 ransomware cybersecurity attack that crippled some of Oakland’s information technology systems set IA investigations into police misconduct complaints back about six weeks – something the department has yet to come back from.
OPD requires that at least 85% of misconduct investigations must be completed within 180 days.
Not only did the ransomware compromise OPD’s “platform for tracking misconduct,” Mitchell said, but it also “triggered unplanned overtime” for ongoing cases, and these issues have “persisted for 18 months.”
He added that at least two police misconduct cases were not reviewed and missed their deadlines for discipline because of this.
Skeptical of reasoning
Civil rights attorney Jim Chanin, who, along with colleague John Burris, filed the original “Riders” lawsuit against Oakland police in 2000 that resulted in federal oversight, didn’t buy Mitchell’s ransomware explanation.
“This was two years ago and this is the first I’m hearing about ransomware,” Chanin said, adding that the issue wasn’t mentioned in any of the formal documentation to the judge.
OPD is also not in compliance with tasks 5 and 45, which are handling Internal Affairs complaint procedures, and consistency of discipline, respectively.
Barbara Lee said “Oakland punches above their weight” at her swearing-in ceremony as mayor. May 20, 2025
OPD has made strides
Over the last two decades, Oakland police have indeed made huge strides, and are in compliance with, the heart of the original lawsuit, which involves constitutional policing techniques, such as limiting the use of force and not pulling over Black and brown men indiscriminately at traffic stops.
KTVU conducted an investigation in 2020 into payouts from wrongful death and excessive force police cases among Bay Area departments and found that Oakland – which has perhaps the strictest oversight of a police department in the country – now pays a fraction to settle lawsuits compared to what it did decades ago.
In fact, from 2018 to 2023, Oakland paid out roughly $1.7 million for these types of cases, far lower than what the larger cities of Fremont and San Jose paid out; $7.7 million and $23.5 million, respectively.
In addition, OPD continues to use Stanford University researchers to help end racial profiling in the department, which has also decreased over the years.
And Orrick noted all these improvements, saying that he has thought long and hard about “celebrating” the end of the oversight.
But OPD is not ready yet, he said, with these three tasks still outstanding.
“The goal posts have not changed,” Orrick said. “We’re not there yet. Progress is stalled.”
Police pursuits, moving IA
Other issues also came up during the hour-long hearing, attended for the first time by newly elected Oakland Barbara Lee, Rockne Lucia, the attorney who represents the police officers, the city attorney, and Ricardo Garcia-Acosta, the chair of the Oakland Police Commission.
The issue of police pursuits was discussed, as was the idea of turning the Oakland Police Department’s Internal Affairs over to the civilian-led Police Commission’s investigative body. There was also a brief discussion, but no conclusion, of the botched IA investigation into former Oakland police detective Phong Tran, who is now awaiting a jury trial on charges of bribing a confidential witness in a murder case.
Brigid Martin, an attorney representing Oakland, also gave an impassioned speech about how the city doesn’t take the oversight, known formally as the Negotiated Settlement Agreement, lightly.
“We’re not sitting by waiting for time to pass,” she told the judge. “The city and the department are taking action to make sure there aren’t failures. NSA compliance is a priority.”
New high-profile mayor
Perhaps the most interesting personal and political twist to hearing – where no cameras are allowed — was hearing from Lee, elected in April as mayor after serving nearly three decades in Congress.
Lee, 78, remembers when the Riders police scandal broke in real time, noting her longtime friendship with Burris.
“I remember very clearly when this began,” she said.
Orrick made a special note to welcome her into his courtroom.
“I want to welcome you to this courtroom and I have admired your courage and your leadership for at least the last 25 years,” Orrick said. “I’m hopeful that your commitment to constitutional policing in Oakland will mean an end to oversight of OPD, and an end the order.”
Lee told the judge that it was a “privilege” to represent the city of Oakland, noting it was her 51st day in office as mayor.
She said she already spends a large portion of time “supporting the NSA.”
Lee said she was able to persuade former Inspector General Michelle Phillips back to Oakland, albeit in a new role.
Phillips will now be working as an assistant city administrator, whose assignment is to work on the NSA and coordinate between the police chief and the independent monitor Robert Warshaw.
“I look forward to finally achieving the goals of the NSA,” Lee said. “Court oversight cannot end until there is full compliance. There is some urgency to get these remaining tasks completed.I am committed to getting there. Oaklanders deserve results. I want this done under my watch.”
The next court hearing is set for Dec. 9.
