Oakland police conditioned to 'stay out of trouble' as investigations of the department lower moral and performance | Law Enforcement Today

OAKLAND, CA - At a January Police Commission meeting, Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell gave remarks highlighting concerns that the excessive disciplinary measures his officers face are discouraging proactive policing and negatively impacting officer performance.

He said, "If you make a mistake in the Oakland Police Department ... you are going to get allegations levied against you that will ruin your career and your opportunity to work anywhere else in the United States. Our officers have been conditioned to do as little as possible to stay out of trouble and that is a problem."

According to Oakland Report, which posted the initial article on this, Oakland's police oversight policies have led to an excessive number of disciplinary investigations of officers, even for minor infractions. The data shows that 92 percent of officer investigations are not "sustained," meaning that the allegation was untrue, within policy, or lacked evidence.

Of those that are sustained, 75 percent are for minor offenses, such as use of profanity or conducting personal business while on duty. All of these incidents become part of an officer's permanent personnel record, the police log, and supervisory files as well as making officers feel inferior.

The policies that the Oakland Police Department (OPD) follow are directed by a 21-year-old Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA) and enforced by a federal monitor. OPD is required to commit resources and time to excessive investigations for all complaints — even those that are trivial, untrue, or are better served by simply addressing officer performance through management and mentorship.

Additionally, minor offenses must be escalated to major investigations if a "pattern of misconduct" is identified, though no clear definition of a pattern exists. Supervisors themselves can also be disciplined for not identifying such ill-defined patterns, which can result in an escalation of allegations to major cases by supervisors who are trying to protect themselves from the oversight.

As noted in the article, "The net impact is a disproportionate number of investigations and disciplinary actions against officers compared to other cities, negatively affecting morale, recruitment, and overall policing effectiveness." The investigations also drain an inordinate amount of resources from OPD and taxpayers, costing supervisors as much as 80 percent of their time and costing the department millions of dollars in additional investigatory costs.

Oakland's present approach to police oversight focuses disproportionately on investigation and punishment as a means to achieve just and fair policing. The article concludes, "Oakland's all punitive-approach to police oversight offers no pathway to build a more capable, more effective police force that Oakland residents need. Without policy reforms, officer morale and performance will remain low, and public safety will continue to suffer."

Currently, OPD has 542 open investigations. OPD policy states that all complaint investigations must be completed in 180 days. The high volume of pending cases extends the duration of administrative leave for officers, partly due to Skelly hearings, which must be conducted before disciplinary action can be taken. 

Currently, there are 149 pending Skelly hearings and 42 officers on administrative leave. Eleven officers have been on leave for one to two years awaiting Skelly hearings, costing the department nearly $3 million annually. 

The article said, "Current OPD policies focus on disciplinary action, rather than performance and remediation. These policies do not foster a learning culture, where one is permitted to learn from errors and improve. They foster a culture of control and punishment. A kind of internal surveillance state."

At the meeting in January, Chief Mitchell said, "I associate it with a pet or dog that constantly got hit over the head with a newspaper. Sooner or later all you have to do is pick up the newspaper and that dog is cowering down because it's afraid it's going to get hurt. It's hurting our city because our officers are afraid to do their job."