{"id":6564,"date":"2026-08-09T11:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T11:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6564"},"modified":"2026-08-09T11:37:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T11:37:00","slug":"oakland-police-are-poised-to-exit-federal-oversight-can-they-sustain-constitutional-policing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6564","title":{"rendered":"Oakland police are poised to exit federal oversight. Can they sustain ‘constitutional policing’?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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OAKLAND \u2014 Perhaps the most consequential court hearing in the Oakland Police Department\u2019s recent history is next month, when city leaders will ask that a judge relinquish the embattled force from longstanding oversight by a federal court.<\/p>\n

Read more Broken trust: San Jose Unified parents say district fell short after closing campuses<\/a><\/p>\n

Already, Michelle Phillips feels exhausted when she thinks about the big day. Her permanent gig as an assistant city administrator became more intensive late last year when Mayor Barbara Lee appointed Phillips to a newly created job intended to ensure \u201cconstitutional policing\u201d in the department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve straddled both full-time positions for eight months,\u201d said Phillips in an interview this week. \u201cIt was always supposed to be for a short time. But you don\u2019t know what a position like that will truly need until you diagnose the challenges involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

City officials are officially seeking a permanent replacement for Phillips as the constitutional policing administrator, a $264,000-a-year role that could prove pivotal to OPD\u2019s ability to sustain progress when oversight ends.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Court Judge William Orrick counts the mayor\u2019s appointment of Phillips as a core factor in his intent to formally eliminate oversight in late September \u2014 a milestone that has long eluded OPD amid a run of misconduct scandals and a revolving door of police chiefs.<\/p>\n

He cites the working harmony between Lee and Chief James Beere, praising Phillips as an effective intermediary who has bridged shaky communication between the two offices and added a fresh layer of accountability within OPD\u2019s ranks.<\/p>\n

But what happens when others fill their roles? Phillips\u2019 job, which pays up to $264,000 a year, could be the first test.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t create positions solely around individual people,\u201d she said in an interview promoting the open position. \u201cAs long as someone is flexible and coachable, they can continue this sustainable infrastructure that we have tried to build for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

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If anything, OPD\u2019s dysfunctions had until now proven immune to reforms imposed by the individuals in charge. Scandal after scandal tore through the department in the years after oversight took effect, while police leaders were poked, prodded and \u2014 on several occasions \u2014 overhauled entirely by the court-appointed monitor, Robert Warshaw.<\/p>\n

The Oakland Police Commission, a volunteer civilian body intended to take over Warshaw\u2019s reins, has struggled to establish stable footing or avoid clashes with elected city leaders since it was formed in 2016.<\/p>\n

Phillips, however, has uniquely worked both alongside police leaders and on the side of the watchdogs, winning rare support across the aisle. Before her latest dual role, Philips had a previous stint as Oakland\u2019s inspector general, working under the police commission as a kind of auditor of OPD.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was certainly pleased that she has taken on a greater responsibility,\u201d civil rights attorney John Burris said about Phillips. \u201cIt has been very positive seeing her build a working relationship with the chief.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Burris and fellow attorney Jim Chanin first litigated brutality cases that brought OPD under oversight and are on board with Orrick\u2019s intent to end it, agreeing that the department is in compliance with 52 \u201ctasks\u201d by which Warshaw tracks the department\u2019s progress. Still, they believe OPD\u2019s future depends on those in charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe infrastructure will be there,\u201d Burris said, \u201cbut it\u2019s only as good as the people who interpret it. That\u2019s the test, and it\u2019s a function of who gets hired, how they are trained and how informed they are of what works.\u201d<\/p>\n

A half-mile separates Oakland City Hall and the downtown police administration building, where Phillips has gone back and forth this past year. But the former \u201cmilitary brat\u201d \u2014 who was born in Okinawa, Japan, raised overseas and graduated high school in Baltimore \u2014 is used to bouncing around.<\/p>\n

Before returning to Oakland as Lee\u2019s assistant city administrator, Phillips briefly served as a civil rights director in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really had to break down the silos that had made building trust a challenge,\u201d said Phillips, who helped devise a training for academy recruits about police accountability after reviewing data that indicated many young cops distrust misconduct investigations.<\/p>\n

Police critics speak less glowingly about the possible end to oversight, noting that police still have not identified a homeless man killed by officers on July 13. Authorities have cited difficulties tracking down the man\u2019s next of kin, but overall police have said little about the case besides that the man had been armed with dangerous weapons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really ticked off by their logic,\u201d said Chanin, the attorney who helped litigate the oversight case. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason why publishing his name and photograph should be a problem. If anything, it\u2019s the single thing that would most likely facilitate them finding his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burris, his colleague, is separately representing the family of Doug Martin, an ex-NFL star whose family sued the city after he died in police custody last October. Few details of either incident were publicly available in real time because OPD encrypted its scanner traffic last year, hiding the activity of its officers.<\/p>\n

Phillips, for her part, acknowledges that OPD still has hurdles to cross. But the internal failures that once derailed efforts to end federal oversight, she said, may soon be a thing of the past \u2014 even when she, Lee and Beere are no longer around to impress the judge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s taken a minute to get here,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd more incidents will happen, force will be used. But if we can catch some things that need to be fixed, that will be vital over the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shomik Mukherjee is a reporter covering Oakland. Call or text him at 510-905-5495 or email him at shomik@bayareanewsgroup.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Horoscopes August 9, 2026: Anna Kendrick, become the master of your destiny<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps the most consequential court hearing in the Oakland Police Department’s recent history is next month, when city leaders will ask that a judge relinquish the embattled force from longstanding oversight by a federal court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nOakland police are poised to exit federal oversight. 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