2021 was a tragic, inspirational, and perfectly normal year, albeit mainly over Zoom. It began seven months after George Floyd’s murder broke through the relentless drum of police immunity and propaganda. We were inundated with requests from communities fighting for police accountability, asking for advice on alternative emergency response models, and seeking our counsel and experience. Meanwhile, in Oakland, we continued the ongoing work to strengthen our own Police Commission and advocate for law enforcement policies that protect Oaklanders. We are grateful to the people who donated time, money, and a special thanks to Pamela Price for connecting us to fabulous pro-bono legal work. Read our annual report.

This was a powerful year for so many reasons, and the worldwide protests in honor of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and too many others gave us strength. We worked hard to pass Measure S1 in November to improve the citizen-led Police Commission, which passed with over 82% of the vote. Read our annual report.

Monitor and Judge

Attended court hearing on Federal monitoring, engaged issues highlighted by monitor reports and developed strategies to further engage on use of force reporting and use of body cameras.

Publicity/Community education on Police Commission, rights, issues.

Distributed 2,500 flyers on how to file complaint. (At a cost of $400,000 the city created an on-line complaint program but did nothing to publicize it.)
Helped foster ongoing media attention on administration efforts to undermine accountability.
Organized a successful "Meet and Greet" the Commissioners event in June at St. Elizabeth's Elementary School. Attended by over 70 community members.
Convinced the Police Commission to hold a public hearing on the Police and Homelessness which we will organize. Organized a group of coalition members and homeless activists to organize the hearing.

Thwarted City administration’s efforts to stymie and undermine the Police Commission’s independence.

Provided legal analysis countering the City Attorney’s position which upheld the City Administration’s attack on the Commission.
Promoted regular attendance at Police Commission meetings and organized supporters to attend City Council and Police Commission meetings in support of crucial actions or policies.
Succeeded in getting the Ordinance passed that ensured that the legal counsels to the Commission and CPRA and the Inspector General will report to and be supervised by the Police Commission, not the City Attorney's Office or the City Administrator.
Succeeded in ensuring that the Police Commission can inspect and review the CPRA investigations of complaints of Level 1 complaints against OPD officers and send back if the Commission does not support the findings.
Pressured the Mayor to expedite the long-overdue hiring of an Administrative Analyst to staff the Commission.

Policy and Research

Introduced a new policy on appearance to support diversity in OPD recruiting for consideration of Commission.
Succeeded in blocking the OPD "Stop and Search" revision of the Police Commission's preferred policy by the City Council. First time OPD/City Council were rebuffed in their policy proposal.
Established ongoing relationships with the Alameda County Public Defender and Policy Link to assist in research, data collection, and policy development.
Participated with the ACLU and other organizations statewide in advocating for the passage of AB 931 to create stricter policy on when officers are entitled to use deadly force and SB 1421 which promotes police transparency. with the Police Commissioners and established collaborative relationships with several of the commissioners. Offer assistance, resources, and policy and research input.