By Andrew Stelzer The Oscar Grant incident was only one of many recent controversial killings, acts of violence, or other inappropriate acts by police in Oakland. The community response, including rage in the streets, is reflective not only of the lack of trust the people have in law enforcement, but of the powerlessness they feel to do anything about it. This story will examine one of the most obvious, but elusive solutions: Community oversight of the Oakland Police.
Experts agree that having a civilian review board able to review police actions and recommend discipline is an important tool for building an accountable police department. Police officers instinct to ‘protect their own’ has been a staple characteristic of law enforcement as we know it. But that silence is a disaster in terms of community relations, and exacerbates people’s hostility towards cops. After the killing of several Oakland police officers in March 2009, there were a significant number of Oaklanders who praised the killer—this twisted reaction is a direct result of a lack of connection and empathy between people and the police.
Oakland technically has a Citizens' Police Review Board (CPRB), which was established after years of grassroots activism. But the CPRB has been starved of funding, so much so that it essentially exists only on paper. Of the 10 spots on the board, 4 are currently unfilled. Recent budget cuts eliminated one of the boards investigators, and one administrative assistant.
The problem also stems from a 2006 state Supreme Court decision, which prevents Civilian Review Boards from disclosing information from their investigations of police misconduct. That ruling damaged some of the more progressive police review boards in the state, including San Francisco and Los Angeles. A 2007 bill in the state legislature (SB 1019) designed to overcome the result of that court ruling died, after a massive campaign of threats by police unions.
The problem is not limited to Oakland. Civilian review boards that exist on paper but rarely if ever actually meet, or are functionally ineffective are a problem in New York, Atlanta and elsewhere across the country. Some of the common problems are laid out in this 2007 article: “Powerless Civilian Review Boards.” They include a lack of power to force officers to respond to subpoenas and testify, restrictions on which incidents they can investigate, an inability to recommend discipline, and perhaps the most important power that has so far not been granted anywhere in the country: the ability to mandate disciplinary action. In other words, no matter what these Civilian review boards decide, the choice of whether to honor the recommendation and punish officers rests with the city or the police themselves. True community control does not exist.
This is a local story, but will put Oakland’s situation in both a state and national context. The local reporting will be done in person, but interviews will also be conducted with activists, and former/current law enforcement agents in other cities that have developed successful civilian review processes or other methods to ensure police accountability.
Some of the questions I will explore are:
What is the history of Oakland’s CPRB, especially the last decade? Who are the main players responsible for defunding it?
Who are the politicians/leaders who could restore funding to he CPRB? Why aren’t they doing it?
What is the community’s perception of the police, and what effect would it have if Oaklanders thought their complaint could lead to disciplinary action?
What are some of the more successful Citizen Police Review Boards in other cities, and how did they come into being? What can Oakland learn from them?
There’s also the issue of BART police specifically. There’s a bill introduced in the state legislature to create a civilian oversight body, but the BART board of directors appears to be trying to kill that bill and develop their own oversight mechanism. I’ll follow that saga as well.
Important to note about this story is not only will it explore the problem, it will aim to identify solutions. In this way, the community can use the information as a tool to organize and address of the most pressing problems it currently faces—community relations with the police.
A bit about me. I am an award winning radio producer and print reporter. My articles have appeared in In These Times, E Magazine, Ode Magazine, the St Petersburg Times, and others. My radio stories have aired on Marketplace, BBC's The World, Free Speech Radio News/Pacifica, Latino USA, Weekend America, and many others. I’ve covered incidents of police violence and the community response in Portland, OR for KBOO community radio, and in Tampa, FL for WMNF –community radio, thus I have a good background in the subject. I was also on the streets of downtown Oakland the night of January 7th, and conducted interviews with many Oaklanders that may be incorporated into this piece. You can read more about me and see some of my work at www.andrewstelzer.com
The print story will be roughly 2,000 words. I also plan to make it into a radio piece. I am a producer at Making Contact, a national radio program based in Oakland. Once it is funded through you—Spot.us readers, Making Contact has committed a willingness to air this piece, as part of a larger program about police accountability.
