- Police Brutality Watch

A stinging report of the Oakland Police Department's failure to fulfill a consent decree has attorneys rumbling of an extension and Mayor Jerry Brown appearing at police lineups. The report by an independent monitoring team contends the department didn't complete half of its agreed tasks as directed by court order almost two years ago. " Issued Monday, the 85-page report highlights the department's inability to track and document completed training, the large number of missing vehicle and pedestrian stop data forms, and the poor quality of Internal Affairs investigations. The decree is a result of an February 2003 settlement by the city and the Oakland Police Department with 119 plaintiffs in a civil case who claimed a group of officers, known as "The Riders," ran roughshod over their West Oakland neighborhood, planting evidence, filing false reports and beating people. The plaintiffs were awarded $10.9 million, and the independent monitors are expected to cost the city $10 million over five years. The bill could be steeper if attorneys take the city back to court for undermining the spirit of the agreement. The report said members of the Independent Monitoring Team observed commanders' open disdain of settlement agreement training, and such attitudes have been passed to the rank-and-file. The department has also been unable to reliably document and track training its given. The department's commitment to deterring racial profiling was also questioned by the report. Officers are required to complete a basic report for every vehicle and pedestrian stop, field investigation and detention. But the report claims thousands of stops appear to be unreported. [more]