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The troubled and controversial history of the Oakland Police Department.
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In 1980, the Citizens' Police Review Board was established to handle complaints against OPD misconduct, fact finding, and advisory reports to the City Administrator. Since then, the boards responsibility has been expanded to include investigations of use of force and bias based protected status (1995), as well as, all complaints against police officers, option to hold hearings, and ability to review confidential OPD records in private session (2002).
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In 1991, The City of Oakland paid $42,000 to settle what was a 10 million dollar lawsuit filed by the family of Tupac Shakur after he was allegedly beaten by police during a routine traffic stop. https://www.kqed.org/arts/11696060/its-tupac-day-in-oakland-where-he-once-sued-the-police-for-10-million
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In July of 2000, a former Police Officer alleged that 4 veteran Police Officers known as the "Riders" had been making false arrests, planting evidence, using excessive force, and falsifying police reports for years.
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/19-16332/19-16332-2020-09-09.html -
in 2008, Oakland agreed to pay $2 million to 16 Asian women who all reported to be sexually assaulted by, then Police Officer, Richard Valerga. Valerga was sentenced to 6 months in jail. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-to-pay-2-million-to-officer-s-victims-3204768.php
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In 2010, the City of Oakland paid $6.5 million to individuals alleging that the Oakland police illegally obtained search warrants based on false or misleading information.
https://abc7news.com/archive/7568189/ -
From 2001-2011, the Oakland Police Department paid a total of $57 million dollars to alleged victims of police abuse, the largest amount in the country.
https://www.rlslawyers.com/oakland-paying-out-extraordinary-police-abuse-settlements/ -
In June 2016, 14 OPD officers were alleged to have been involved in a sex scandal involving a teenage prostitute, who was a minor. The scandal lead to the resignation of the chief, Sean Whent.
https://www.cnn.com/2016/06/24/us/oakland-police-scandals/index.html -
In February 2020, Anne Kirkpatrick was fired by the Oakland Police Commission without cause. The move was supported by Mayor Libby Schaaf. In May 2020, Kirkpatrick filed a complaint with the Attorneys office claiming her firing was retaliation by the Commission for complaints filed by her, to the Commission.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Fired-Oakland-Police-Chief-Anne-Kirkpatrick-files-15250973.php