The CPAB meets the first
Wednesday of every month at 1
Frank H Ogawa Plaza (City Hall)
in Hearing Room 2 at 6:00 pm.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Community Policing Advisory
Board is to oversee and ensure the complete,
successful implementation of Oakland’s community
policing policy articulated in City Council
Resolution No. 79235 C.M.S. Oakland’s community
policing policy represents a major achievement in
the decentralization of city government, the
democratic empowerment of the city’s
neighborhoods. Committed to this effort, the
Advisory Board shall fulfill its responsibilities
through cooperative interaction with the
community, the Oakland Police Department, city
officials, staff and other local public and private
agencies.
Board Members
Valerie Bachelor
Art Douglas Blacksher
Andrea Luna Bocanegra
Lawrence Brandon
Colleen Brown, Chair
Cynthia Elliott
Jacqueline Long, Vice-Chair
David Ralston
Ingrid Severson
Nancy Sidebotham
Making Oakland a safer city through
partnerships with the Oakland Police
Department, Oakland City Council
members, the City Administrators office,
the City Attorneys office, Neighborhood
Councils (NC’s), the Neighborhood
Watch Steering Committee,
Neighborhood/Merchant Watch groups,
residents, and businesses.
The
Community
Policing
Advisory
Board
For further information contact CPAB staff:
Felicia Verdin
Assistant to the City Administrator
1 Frank H Ogawa Plaza
Oakland, Ca. 94612
e-mail: [email protected]
• Serves as primary communication link to the
community and bring feedback from the com-
munity, including Neighborhood Councils &
Neighborhood/Merchant Watch Groups, to the
Board and on-ward & to the Police and City
Council.
• Serves as an advisor, representing the communi-
ty, to the Police Chief and top command staff on
community policing strategies both planned and
already implemented. .
• Oversee the budget and monitor the disburse-
ment of Neighborhood Council funds.
• Educate and inform the public about community
policing, its current progress, and implementa-
tion.
• Serve as an active advocate for Oakland’s com-
munity policing philosophy.
• Help boost public participation in community
policing
• Neighborhood Council recertification.
Collaborative Partners
Neighborhood Watch Groups-groups of neigh-
bors at the block level that have mobilized and work
together with the Oakland Police Department to
address and solve local crime problems. Neighbor-
hood Watch partners with the Community Emergen-
cy Response Teams (CERTs) sponsored by the Oak-
land Fire Department to help neighborhoods prepare
for and respond to earthquakes and other major dis-
asters.
Neighborhood Watch Steering Committee-a
group that oversee and guide Oakland’s Neighbor-
hood Watch Program. CERT has a similar oversight
group.
Neighborhood Councils (NCs)-deal with commu-
nity concerns, emergency preparedness, and other
The Community Policing Advisory Board (CPAB) is
a body established by the City Council for the pur-
pose of monitoring and reporting on the implemen-
tation of community policing in Oakland. Since
forming in 1997, the Board has also made recom-
mendations to the Mayor, City Council, Police De-
partment, and city staff about enhancing community
policing in Oakland. In addition, it has strived to be
a source of information and liaison to residents and
merchants active in Neighborhood Councils and
Neighborhood/Merchant Watch Groups through-
out the city of Oakland.
What is Community Policing?
Community policing is a philosophy or frame of
mind that empowers Oaklanders by encouraging
them to organize themselves and to partner with one
another and the police in identifying problems, pri-
oritizing concerns, and developing solutions that will
improve the safety and quality of life in those areas
of the city. Community policing is an energetic, on-
going collaboration of engaged Oaklanders, Neigh-
borhood/Merchant Watch groups, city employees,
public officials, and the police, all working together
to solve the problems identified by the stakeholders
in the neighborhoods of Oakland.
What Does The Community Policing
Advisory Board Do?
• Monitors the progress and implementation of
Resolutions 72727 & 79235. Report annually to
the Mayor, City Council, Police Chief, and City
Administrator. Both resolutions established the
Oakland community policing program, including
the Neighborhood Councils (NCs), the Neigh-
borhood Services Coordinators (NSCs), the ded-
icated Community Policing Officers, and the
CPAB.
What is the Community Policing
Advisory Board?
issues that affect community policing beats that were
configured to correspond with natural neighborhood
boundaries areas (e.g. Prescott NC., North Hills,
Grand Lake Neis, Allendale Park, 35X NC, etc).
Police Department Community Resource Officers
(CRO)-study crime and other problems at the Com-
munity Policing Beat level and partner with citizens in the NCs to mobilize resources to solve the problems.
City Attorney’s Neighborhood Law Corps-works
with neighborhoods to abate nuisance activity that
require legal action i.e. problem properties, alcohol
outlets, blight, etc.
How Can CPAB Help You?
The CPAB is made up of community policing and
Neighborhood/Merchant Watch leaders’ eager to
serve their fellow community members. The Board is
a source of information and resources available to the
NC and Neighborhood/Merchant Watch community.
Its meetings are attended by Police Commanders and
representatives of the City Administrator’s and City
Attorney’s Offices.
How to stay connected & engaged
Neighborhood Councils
https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/neigh
borhood-councils
Neighborhood/Merchant Watch
https://www.oaklandca.gov/topics/neigh
borhood-and-merchant-watch-programs
Community Policing Advisory Board
https://www.oaklandca.gov/boards-
commissions/the-community-policing-
advisory-board-cpab