Oakland Police Department (OPD) has been under federal monitoring pursuant to a settlement agreement reached in the infamous Riders case in 2003. The monitoring has proceeded for 16 years with OPD failing to meet the settlement agreement terms at each point of review . To enforce the settlement, the federal court appointed a monitor. Part of the monitor's duties is to issue quarterly compliance and review reports to the federal U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick on the matter. The current monitor, Robert Warshaw, issued his first quarter report in March 2019 which concludes that the City is losing what progress it has made in complying with the settlement agreement. In the month preceding the report's release, Warshaw condemned OPD's current Chief Anne Kirkpatrick for her poor leadership decisions including her handling of discipline in the killing of 31-year old mentally Joshua Palowik on March 11, 2018. Warshaw detailed that OPD placed the four off...
A blog about politics and life in Oakland, California by Allyssa Victory, Esq.