Being billed as the first of its kind in the United States, an all-volunteer board made up of civilians lacking credentials qualifying them as law enforcement in any capacity has proposed taking over complete responsibility and operational authority of the roughly 750 sworn cops and approximately 325 non-sworn support staff comprising the Oakland, California police force.

Former Oakland police Chief Anne Kirkland, who was summarily fired in February 2020, is calling the takeover attempt “a debacle,” and “a danger to public safety.” Kirkpatrick’s tenure as Oakland police chief ended when the same all-volunteer civilian-led Oakland Police Commission (OPC) pushed a “no-cause termination,” citing their unanimous conclusion: “There are a lot of improvements, but the disparities continue to exist and there are a series of other issues that have just contributed to losing the confidence,” said OPC figurehead Regina Jackson, a mayoral appointee. “We didn’t think that she was going to be the most effective chief in Oakland.”

If one were to distill that statement, it amounts to what happened without remotely explaining why. Even a dog without a nose can smell the odor of politics.

Speaking of politics, Kirkpatrick’s firing was delineated by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf who reportedly supported the unanimous decision by the OPC while also highly commending Kirkpatrick in her role as police chief. Mayor Schaff said she was “grateful” for Kirkpatrick’s police leadership, with dividends including the “lowest periods of gun violence and officer-involved shootings, as well as new anti-racial profiling policies.” Great things, no?

According to NBC News reports, “Kirkpatrick joined the department in February 2017 and became the first female police chief to be hired in Oakland’s history. At the time, Kirkpatrick became Oakland’s fourth top cop in a span of seven months and inherited a beleaguered police department that had been embroiled in a sex-abuse scandal involving a teenage girl that cost the three police chiefs before her their jobs.”

At present, the OPC is made of of nine members convening six males and three females. The online OPC page has a newly devised app inviting anyone in the community to wage complaints on officers—this in addition to the Oakland Police Department’s own 24-hour hotline to Internal Affairs (to report police misconduct) or via yet another layer of Oakland governance known as the Community Police Review Agency. It would seem at least two factors are evident here: Oakland has no qualms about multi-layered big government and the “community” does not trust its law enforcement entity.

Certainly, trust is an issue in Oakland, as admitted by Mayor Schaaf in her statement supporting the letting-go of Kirkland: “As Mayor, it is my duty to determine when the trust between The Police Commission and the Police Chief has become irrevocably lost and prevents Oakland from moving forward.” Again, the answer to the question Why? remains. Perhaps revelations will surface from Kirkland’s implications of a lawsuit against the city.

Incidentally, referring to politics and trust, this is the same Mayor Schaaf who made national headlines when she learned of an impending Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid regarding federal agents planning to net fugitive illegal immigrants hiding in her sanctuary city; Mayor Schaaf warned illegal immigrants harboring in seclusion, placing ICE agents in operational danger while aiding and abetting illegal aliens under her Oakland wings. Schaaf’s undermining of ICE agents also betrayed American citizens who expect constitutional immigration law tenets to be enforced thus saving tax dollars.

Mayor Schaaf seems to have an uncanny way of playing with variables among her city’s governance, seemingly siding with OPC over Oakland police rank and file and just going with their flow.

In support of Kirkland with recitations against her firing, Barry Donelan, president of the Oakland Police Officers’ Association, offered a statement to the media: “Chief Anne Kirkpatrick was a well-respected leader of the Oakland Police Department (OPD) and was making significant progress in bringing stability to OPD. But, fighting for Oakland’s residents and Police Officers alike does not endear you to Oakland’s unelected Police Commissioners and our Mayor. Oakland Police Officers are disappointed in the actions of the Police Commission and the Mayor. These events don’t bode well for public safety in Oakland. Oakland’s robbery epidemic continues, we face sideshows every weekend, Oakland Police Officer numbers are attriting downward, and crime in every category was up in 2019.”

In Donelan’s press release on the OPC takeover matter, he opines, “The proposal by [City Council President] Kaplan and [City Councilman] Kalb will endanger public safety by giving all decision-making powers to the police commission, none of whom has any public safety experience. It would allow the commission to prevent rapid response to public safety emergencies, override police operations, divert already inadequate public safety resources, and make decisions on highly technical operational and tactical practices that could conflict with California’s best practices, multi-agency disaster response, and standardized training procedures.”

Kirkpatrick agrees with Donelan’s assessment, saying, “I certainly do not think the commission should have more power. I don’t even think they should have the power that they have today,” such as leading to her only recourse of suing, which may cost Oakland taxpayers dearly. (Kirkland’s former annual salary was $270,000.)

The crux of the matter belies a grassroots yet heralded thrust in mostly liberal-run municipalities whereby civilians pit themselves against traditional police executives’ command and control over respective law enforcement rank and file. Essentially, this brand of political maneuvering seeks to wrest away decision-making and operational authority  from law enforcement professionals whose hard-earned certifications and life-long public service qualifies them as full-fledged police practitioners—in this case, a commensurate $270,000 salary defines these attributes.

Federal consent decrees popularly used during the Obama presidency seemed a pre-Trump trendsetter, largely heralded by then-Attorney General Eric Holder and his oft-labelled “federalization” of police. The Daily Caller published a self-explanatory report titled “DOJ Police Probes And Consent Decrees Spike Under Obama.” Some may wonder what is afoot in Oakland, begging the question: Why does a body of unpaid civilians convening a mere twice per week seek the leadership role of its police force?

The East Bay Times pulled back the curtain on some of the figures involved in a federal consent decree placed upon the Oakland police force, emphasizing some gripes about monitors and overseers, one of whom is reportedly paid a $1 million per year salary. The politics involved in these federal consent decrees often astounds. And Oakland’s consent decree, otherwise known as a Negotiated Settlement Agreement, dates back to 2003. Kirkpatrick was hired to run the Oakland PD in 2017, and in February 2020 found herself being held allegedly liable for what the city failed to do at least 14 years prior to her existence in Oakland.

So what about regular folks assuming command and control of the operational scope of a police force? Where is the merit and confidence that such a policy will bear fruit? Where is the logic and rationale behind the idea? Should anyone barely able to balance a checkbook be given a bank president’s office when they can not proffer proof that certifies respective accountability?

Perhaps the most curious factor behind the Commission’s push to take control of Oakland’s police force is personal and political in nature. Town Business, an Oakland-centric reporting service solely concentrated on crime and public safety issues inherent to the city, printed the following line: “The proposal would also remove an avenue of investigating commissioners for misconduct.” One may wonder if that would also extend to other elected officials.

So, is the Oakland Police Commission —a body made up entirely of civilian volunteers with what appears to be awesome powers and authority— engineering insulation against their own potential misdeeds? Isn’t that what boots-on-the-ground  Town Business implied? Can anyone refute the intent has tentacles of authoritarianism? Can the 1,000-member police force become the private little army of seven volunteers (at least) who meet a mere two times per month?

Punctuating all this is a written statement from the OPC, offering its mindset behind Kirkpatrick’s firing: “Since the Commission’s inception, the Commissioners, along with the rest of the citizens of the City of Oakland, observed the Oakland Police Department’s failure to increase compliance with the court-ordered reforms required under the Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA). The Commission’s vote reflects our desire to see the City of Oakland move ahead under new leadership. The Commission looks forward to working with Mayor Schaaf to identify a Chief of Police who will build trust in the community and address racial and gender disparities that continue to exist in the Department and in our City. Our new Chief must address use of force issues and end the need for a court-appointed monitor. The Commission demands a leader who will diversify and grow the Department to the level of respect that our officers and community deserve. The Department must be a model of constitutional policing and justice, and the Commission is committed to working with the Mayor to find the right next leader.”

So OPC speaks on behalf of Oakland’s current population of 435,224. The OPC statement contradicts several others culled from many media accounts as well as from people directly involved in this orchestration of a civilian takeover of a certified law enforcement agency.

As police association president Donelan identified, is this yet another government attempt to squeeze through its will and whim while a pandemic has everyone otherwise immersed? Are his concerns well placed when he says this takeover will be “giving full control of the Police Department to a group of unelected and unaccountable Police Commissioners”?

One thing is for certain: Although fired by the OPC, former Oakland police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick is not going away without a fight. “With more power now they’re going to be truly jeopardizing community safety and these police officer safety and I’m not gonna be quiet about it,” she told KPIX5. “I’m going to stand up and speak out.”

This piece was written by Stephen Owsinski on May 9, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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