The civil rights suit against the Oakland PD arising from "the Riders"
scandal required a PD audit and 5 years' supervision. We need settlements
like that in forfeiture reform cases!
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Wednesday, March 17, 2004 (SF Chronicle)
OAKLAND/Police brass flayed by report/Experts say complaints get low priority
Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer


   The Oakland Police Department too often fails to take seriously
investigations into allegations of corruption and abuse, allowing accused
officers to go unpunished, according to a report prepared by experts
overseeing the agency under a $10.5 million settlement in the Riders
scandal.
   The report, released Tuesday, criticizes department brass for failing to
make internal investigations a top priority and for fostering a lax
culture within a department that sits on such inquiries until they die
quietly.
   "Our review of the timeliness of OPD's internal investigations process
revealed systemic delays at nearly every step of the process, with few
internal mechanisms designed to prevent such delays," the report states.
"The most striking overall finding is the failure of OPD's structure as a
whole to support the internal investigations process."
   Police Chief Richard Word said he agreed with most of the findings and
said the department already was addressing many of them.
   "This is a kick in the pants for us," Word said. "This will make us a
stronger department. For years we took shortcuts in this business because
we've been short-staffed, and violent crimes like homicide takes priority.
   "There has been a longtime tendency to cut corners. We learned from the
Riders case that taking shortcuts gets you in trouble."
   Because internal investigations often languish for more than a year, the
74-page report says, officers accused of wrongdoing often escape without
punishment, because the state-mandated statute of limitations expires
before the case is resolved. "Firm deadlines within the investigative
process are sparse, and the deadlines that are in place are not met," the
report says. "OPD internal investigations are delayed or halted for
reasons that have little if anything to do with the complexities of the
cases."
   The four-person independent monitor's office issued the report under its
mandate to oversee the reforms outlined in the settlement brokered in the
Riders case, which involved allegations four officers accused of planting
drugs on innocent people and beating drug suspects in the summer of 2000.
A second criminal trial of three of the officers is scheduled to begin
Sept. 27 because the first ended in a mistrial last year.
   The fourth officer is believed to have fled the country before trial.
   The report was written by two civil rights attorneys, a police chief from
suburban Chicago and a retired deputy chief of the Los Angeles Sheriff's
Department. They were hired at a cost of $3.3 million to monitor Oakland
police for five years.
   None was available for comment Tuesday.
   State law requires agencies that receive complaints of misconduct by
officers either to confirm the complaint or to exonerate the officer
within one year in most situations. In Oakland, the report noted that many
officers went unpunished even when the complaint was confirmed, because
internal affairs missed the deadline.
   Attorney Jim Chanin, who with attorney John Burris represented 119 people
in the Riders case, said he was disappointed that problems within the
internal affairs division had not been rectified.
   "I can't say I am surprised, but I'm very disappointed," he said. "I have
to wonder just how seriously the department is taking reform. We knew that
internal affairs was a mess in 2000. We pointed that out then. Now, it's
2004, and we again see the same problems unresolved."
   Chanin said he and Burris might sue the department and the city to require
changes in the department's internal affairs procedures.
   Through a spokesman, Mayor Jerry Brown said he had not yet read the report
and would not comment.
   Chief Word said the department had assigned a full-time officer to track
each internal affairs investigation as it progresses. The officer has
explicit directions to notify department brass every time a deadline is
missed. "We're already beginning to hold supervisors more accountable,"
Word said.
   E-mail Jim Zamora at jzamora@sfchronicle.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2004 SF Chronicle

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