Oakland Police Department faces continuing federal oversight pending a judge's decision
After 21 years, five mayors and 15 police chiefs, the federal judge overseeing the Oakland Police Department says more work still needs to be done to reform the department.
Back in 2022, a judge placed the department on a one-year probationary period that led then Chief LeRonne Armstrong to tout the progress and reforms that had been made at the time.
Less than a year later, Armstrong was fired by Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. She maintained she fired Armstrong after a report detailing the chief's actions in connection with a hit-and-run collision involving a police sergeant and the alleged obstruction of the investigation.
Civil rights attorney John Burris, a central figure in the case that led to Oakland Police Department's federal oversight, says the department's challenges are far from over. Despite efforts to reform, Burris believes OPD remains out of compliance with key mandates, even after more than two decades of federal monitoring.
"We have found that they have not been consistent in the application of the rules and policies, and so they've been out of compliance all these years," Burris said.
Burris represented 119 plaintiffs in the infamous Riders brutality case, which initially led to the department's federal oversight. The 2003 Riders settlement required the department to implement 51 reforms. Burris says OPD is still out of compliance with ten essential tasks, including internal affairs procedures.
At a hearing on Wednesday, the federal judge overseeing the department's reform efforts indicated he would likely extend the oversight. Burris expressed the court's frustration with OPD's lack of progress.
"Finally, after all these years, the court was very upset with them and was exasperated at their failure to comply," Burris noted.
During the hearing, the judge ordered OPD and the city to develop a plan to address internal investigations into officer misconduct. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who was present at the hearing alongside OPD Chief Floyd Mitchell, emphasized that these ongoing issues stem from previous leadership.
"First and foremost, I want to be very clear that the situation we find ourselves in did happen under the previous leadership—previous Chief Leronne Armstrong and previous city administration," Thao said during an interview with CBS News Bay Area Thursday afternoon.
One of the latest scandals involves several high-ranking officers who were disciplined earlier this year for mishandling an internal investigation into Detective Phong Tran, who is currently facing charges of bribing a confidential witness in a murder case.
"We've been positive in a lot of areas, but consistent discipline is a huge issue," Burris explained. "It means Black officers can be disciplined at a higher rate than others, and that has started happening to Hispanic officers as well. They need to take control of this component because there should not be this kind of inconsistency where people get charged with similar offenses, but African Americans get disciplined at higher rates."
For now, OPD remains under federal oversight—a situation that has lasted far longer than initially expected. The department now faces the possibility of falling under federal receivership if meaningful changes aren't made soon.
Mayor Thao remains hopeful that Chief Mitchell can bring the department into compliance.
"He's not from here, and with those fresh eyes, he's already implementing new measures that will safeguard and catch things that were missed before," Thao said.
