Judge ends 23 years of federal oversight of Oakland police

A federal judge ended federal monitoring of the Oakland Police Department on Tuesday after 23 years, concluding what ABC News described as the longest-running oversight of a U.S. police department.

U.S. District Judge William Orrick credited department personnel with achieving substantial compliance with court-ordered reforms. A federal monitor reported in May that the department had complied with all 51 measures imposed after a police brutality and corruption case involving officers known as the Oakland “Riders.”

The oversight began in 2003 following allegations that officers made false arrests, planted evidence, used excessive force, falsified reports and assaulted residents in west Oakland. That year, the city also settled an abuse lawsuit involving 119 people for $11 million.

Some civil rights groups had sought at least a one-year delay after monitor Robert S. Warshaw reported that the department had again fallen below the required threshold for completing serious misconduct investigations on time. Attorneys for the plaintiffs noted that the department had not completed 85% of those investigations within 180 days, but they did not oppose ending oversight.

Orrick said it was time for the court to “get out of the way.” The department experienced repeated leadership turnover during the monitoring period; current Chief James Beere, appointed in July, is its 16th leader in two decades.