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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SAN FRANCISCO
DELPHINE ALLEN et al., 3:00-cv-04599-WHO
Plaintiffs, January 27, 2026
vs. San Francisco, CA
CITY OF OAKLAND et al.,
Defendants.
BEFORE THE HONORABLE WILLIAM H. ORRICK
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
TRANSCRIPT OF CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
A P P E A R A N C E S:
For the Plaintiffs: John L. Burris, Esq.
The Law Offices of John L. Burris
Airport Corporate Centre
7677 Oakport Street, Suite 1120
Oakland, CA 94621
[email protected]
-and-
James B. Chanin, Esq.
Law Offices of James B. Chanin
3050 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94705
[email protected]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
ROBIN L. HERRERA, RMR, CRR, CRC
(Via Zoom Videoconferencing)
United States Court Reporter
401 West Evans Street
Florence, SC 29501
[email protected]
(Stenotype/Computer-Aided Transcription)
Attachment A
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A P P E A R A N C E S C O N T I N U E D: For the Defendants: Brigid S. Martin, Esq. Office of Oakland City Attorney Ryan Richardson One Frank Ogawa Plaza, Sixth Floor Oakland, CA 94612 [email protected] For the Intervenor: Rockne Anthony Lucia, Jr., Esq. Rains Lucia & Wilkinson 2300 Contra Costa Boulevard, Suite 230 Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 [email protected] Also Present: Chief James Beere Assistant Chief Casey Johnson Deputy Chief Aaron Smith Deputy Chief Lisa Ausmus City Attorney Ryan Richardson, Esq. Director Reverend Damita Davis-Howard Chair Ricardo Garcia-Acosta Inspector General Zurvohn Maloof Mayor Barbara Lee City Administrator Jestin Johnson Assistant City Administrator Michelle Phillips 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA; TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2026 HONORABLE WILLIAM H. ORRICK, PRESIDING * * * (Proceedings commence at 3:05 PM.)THE COURT: Good afternoon, everybody. Please beseated.THE CLERK: We are here in Case Number 00-4599,Allen et al. v. City of Oakland et al.Counsel, if you would please come forward andstate your appearance for the record.MR. CHANIN: James Chanin for Plaintiff,Your Honor.MR. BURRIS: John Burris for Plaintiff. Goodafternoon, Your Honor.MS. MARTIN: Good afternoon, Your Honor.Brigid Martin representing the defendant City of Oakland,and I have a host of City officials and leadership here withme: I have City Attorney Ryan Richardson; I have Mayor Barbara Lee; I have the Director of Public Safety,Reverend Damita Davis-Howard; City Administrator JestinJohnson; Assistant City Administrator Michelle Phillips;Police Commission Chair Ricardo Garcia-Acosta; the PoliceCommissions' Inspector General, Zurvohn Maloof; the OaklandPolice Department Chief, James Beere; Assistant Chief Casey 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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Johnson; the Deputy Chief of the Internal Affairs Bureau,Aaron Smith; and the Deputy Chief of the Bureau of RiskManagement, Lisa Ausmus.THE COURT: Perfect. Thank you all for beinghere. Good afternoon.MR. LUCIA: Good afternoon, Your Honor,Rockne Lucia for Intervenor Oakland POA.THE COURT: So I would like to think that we're onthe threshold of the institutionalization of constitutionalpolicing in Oakland.For the first time since I've been involved inthis case -- and I suspect for the first time ever -- theCity has prioritized constitutional policing in word, deed,and resources, building on the foundation of compliance withmost of the tasks in the NSA: intelligence-led trafficstops, risk management meetings targeting areas and officersin need of attention, use of technology and data to pinpointprogress, and a diverse and able police force; leadership inthe form of a constitutional policing administrator who isan assistant city administrator virtually embedded at OPD,and a mayor committed not just to achieving compliance withthe NSA, but to institutionalize constitutional policing sothat it lasts long after federal court involvement isancient history, making me very optimistic about the future.But we're not there yet. For those of you who 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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have signed petitions urging me to close down the court'soversight function, I hear you. I agree with most of yoursentiment. The elected and appointed leaders of the Cityand OPD -- including the police commission and not thefederal court -- should be 100 percent responsible forpolicing in Oakland.But there's a reason the City agreed 25 years agoto achieve 100 percent compliance with the NSA, and that isa recognition of the paramount importance of constitutionalpolicing and the destructive legacy of racism, corruption,brutality, and cultural rot exemplified by the writers.It's taken much longer to achieve that compliance thananyone expected, and it's clear that there's more work todo.First, I want to focus on Task 45, specificallythe racial disparity and discipline. The City has takensteps to address this issue, and the statistics looked atover the last five years are encouraging, but the findingsof the department's inspection of the 2024 internal affairsdata are deeply troubling.As the parties' statements recognize, there's asubstantial decrease in sustained finding for white swornofficers -- members between 2023 and 2024. Only four whitesworn members were sustained in 2024, down from 37 in 2023.That compares with 23 Black sworn members and 25 Hispanic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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sworn members sustained in 2024.And the greatest racial disparities arose ininternally generated cases. White members had no sustainedfindings for internally generated cases, compared to Blackand Hispanic members who had sustained rates of 47 percentand 24 percent, respectively. And that could be a one-yearanomaly, as the City suggests, or it may be caused byimplicit bias and systemic issues, as the City alsoacknowledges. Its inequities in the department's disciplinarysystem call into question inequities in the delivery ofpolice services to the community. I know that thedepartment is looking at strategies such as interventions,command retreats, and training to address this issue; so I'mgoing to set a CMC for May 27th of this year and order thatthe 2025 statistics be prepared by May 1st, at least, if notbefore then, so that the parties have current data that mayinform our analysis and discussion.Tasks 2 and 5 also remain out of compliance,although they seem to be trending in the right direction.Task 2 is about more than just fulfilling an NSArequirement. It's about assuring officers and communitymembers alike the complaints are taken seriously, andoffering both officers and community members redress andresolution. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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Task 5 requires leadership and integrity. Acommitment to running internal affairs without fear orfavor.I'm aware there's recently been some amount ofturmoil in the Internal Affairs Bureau. I'm looking forwardto the new OPD management team addressing these tasks. I'llhave a few questions for Michelle Phillips, the interimconstitutional policing administrator, and Deputy ChiefAaron Smith, in a few moments.I'm heartened that the Mayor had put together ateam that is committed to doing the right thing. Mostimportantly, she is committed to doing so in a way that willensure sustainability. I appreciate her active engagementin the internal workings of the police department and herinteraction with the Plaintiffs' attorneys and with themonitor.I'm advised that the Mayor and the Mayor'srepresentatives consistently participate in an array ofmeetings relevant to the issues at hand and that they askinformed and thoughtful questions about the IA process andother issues relevant to the NSA and constitutional policingin general.So at the end of these proceedings, I'm lookingforward to hearing from the Mayor, but before we get there,I'd like to just start with Chief Beere. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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CHIEF BEERE: Good afternoon, Your Honor.THE COURT: Good afternoon, Chief Beere. Welcomehere.CHIEF BEERE: Thank you, sir.THE COURT: So first of all, I know that you'vemade appointments to the leadership team. Can you tell mewho the team is now and what backgrounds and skill setsthey're bringing to the table to make the completesustainability of the NSA a reality?CHIEF BEERE: Yes, Your Honor. So as soon as Itook over, I brought Assistant Chief Casey Johnson onboard.He's replaced me as the assistant chief. Real strongoperational background. He's worked in patrol, specialoperations division. He has a good grasp on operations andresources of police city-wide.I then appointed Deputy Chief Aaron Smith to be incharge of our Internal Affairs Bureau, which has been veryhelpful. The communication piece with the deputy chiefreporting directly to me, I have a good working relationshipwith Deputy Chief Smith. His reputation is beyond reproach.He's very well versed with the inner workings of the policedepartment, to include some of the challenges we have toovertake. So that was one of the things when I first tookover.We did look at the 2024 disparity report, and 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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immediately him and I sat down and kind of discussed howboth of us were going to go forward with that. We're goingto have -- actually, we're working on a memo to submit atthe next CMC on our efforts to get ahead of that as well.And it did raise some concerns on our end, you know, when wesat down to discuss it.Director Sull [ph] still remains in charge of ourpersonnel. Deputy Chief Ausmus is still the Bureau of RiskManagement, and then currently we have Deputy Chief Tedescothat's in charge of our Bureau of Field Operations. Westill have two acting deputy chiefs. Those two positionsare still under evaluation to see who would end up takingover there permanently.THE COURT: And so specifically with respect to --let's start with the Tasks 2 and 5, how are you trying toaddress and achieve compliance in those areas?CHIEF BEERE: Yes, Your Honor.Well, again, to go back to my working relationshipwith Deputy Chief Smith, it really has been truly helpfulfor me that he reports directly to me. It gives me a betterunderstanding. Obviously, I read all the investigations forwhen they're sustained, the presented force, but I get moreof a vision on how the investigations come about and overallany trends within the department and how to get ahead ofthat. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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With respect to Tasks 2, 5, and 45 because theyall seem to be -- they all touch each other, you know, oneof the things that we started is to kind of address some ofthe, I guess, misunderstandings or at least increasetransparency within the police department when it comes tothe investigations for the more serious sustained cases,Deputy Chief Smith and I are going to actually meet with theofficers currently right now. One of the most recentchanges in recent times is the captain would issue thediscipline and explain how the discipline got there.For us, you know, taking more of a role since thedeputy chief of Internal Affairs Bureau has been reportingto the chief, you know, I think taking more ownership of itgoing forward and actually explaining to the members how wegot there will actually give a little bit more clarity andto explain how the whole process works.And we understand that we're not -- not everythingfalls solely on us because a lot of the cases also involvethe CPRA and the police commission, and I think that we'veestablished more open lines of communication with them, withDirector Lawson and Chair Ricardo Garcia-Acosta; so I thinkit's a total team effort.But again, the biweekly meetings to discuss boththe administrative and the criminal investigations have beensuper helpful for the entire City team. But as far as 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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Deputy Chief Smith and I, I think we're more lockstep intoactually being in tune with the investigations and lookingback into the trends that occurred before we took over haskind of helped us, guided us going forward.THE COURT: So do you see any impediments,anything in the way of achieving full compliance with thosetasks while you're in the chair?CHIEF BEERE: That's a great question, Your Honor.One of the things, honestly -- and it's been talkedabout previously -- is staffing, and we're looking atinnovative ways to address that. Obviously it's a challengethroughout the police department for many of the tasks, justthe service that we give our own community to begin with. But the investigation piece, we've really lookedat how the complaints are coming in and tried to break downthe outside noise that isn't responsible so theinvestigations can get started more streamlined along theway. We're discussing transferring more officers andpersonnel to the Internal Affairs Bureau.On it currently we do have a shortage ofsergeants; so part of the decision to kind of help alleviatethat is to send officers over there and then actually createan acting sergeant's position, which we've utilized in thepast, where the officers are trained in an acting sergeant'scourse and then will be sent through an Internal Affairs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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Bureau investigation course.They'll still report to a sergeant, it'll bemonitored by the lieutenant, but that should help us kind ofget ahead of the issue with regards to the timelines.Cutting down initial training, working with our commandstaff, to include all the supervisors and commandersthroughout the department, but specifically for InternalAffairs Bureau they need more personnel, more resources.So in the short term, it's going to be to trainthe staff we do have, but to make sure that they are giventhe tools and the resources necessary to be successful. Andlong term, want to restart building the department back up,and we can still transfer additional supervisors to theInternal Affairs Bureau.THE COURT: That's great. Well, I'm lookingforward to the fruits of your leadership in this position,and I appreciate the attention that you're paying to thesethings.CHIEF BEERE: Thank you, Your Honor.THE COURT: Thank you.And how about Deputy Chief Aaron Smith?DEPUTY CHIEF SMITH: Good afternoon, Your Honor.THE COURT: How are you?DEPUTY CHIEF SMITH: I am well. How are you?THE COURT: I am doing well. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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So back in September of '24, I directed that theInternal Affairs Bureau be headed by a deputy chief whowould be a direct report to the chief. I've just heardsomething about that. Would you give me your assessment ofhow IAB's operating today and what you see your mission asdeputy chief is.DEPUTY CHIEF SMITH: Very good question,Your Honor. I think just in looking at the 2024 outcomesreport just to get a sense of where we were as a departmentas it relates to discipline, there were some concerns there.I think that the report was comprehensive, and it gave ussome insight into what the potential issues could be. I wasmost interested in where we've been so far in 2025. At thattime -- at the time of my appointment, that information wasnot available.I'm encouraged by some preliminary informationthat we've seen so far in terms of improvement, and so Task 2 would completely agree that the timeliness of aninvestigation is not just about meeting a task, but if Iwere a resident of Oakland and had a complaint, I'd want tosee that complaint handled in a way that was timely.But in the same way, for officers, there's stressinvolved in having cases that are outstanding. Same for 5.We want to make sure that the quality of thoseinvestigations are there, and then outcomes is something 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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that I take very, very seriously, things that I've takenexception to before but in a different role.And so I bring that lens to this position, and Ithink having direct -- a direct reporting relationship withthe chief means that we're in constant communication aboutcases, we're in constant communication about chokepoints,we're able to quickly identify staffing issues and some ofthe lower-hanging impediments, if you would, to try andimprove internal affairs overall.So I would agree that the coordination between IABand the City Attorney's Office, IAB and the Community PoliceReview Agency is also something that I'm encouraged by,because so far everybody's been available to me to help menot just learn while on the job, but also looking forward atways that we can innovate to get things done in a timelymanner.THE COURT: Do you see problems being structuralor personnel or lack of training? What are the things thatyou're focusing on right now?DEPUTY CHIEF SMITH: I think it may be acombination. With the 2024 outcomes and the inability toreally drill down to determine in a real way how thesedisparities came about, I think there's a lot of conjecturethere, but I think it's also at that time there could havebeen a lack of oversight. There could have been training 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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issues, things that potentially were not caught. And as anagency that, unfortunately, has challenges around staffingand has for a long time, I think sometimes we tend to learnto do more or even suffice with less.And so that to me presents some specific risk,particularly for IAB. So, you know, to have that directrelationship with the chief to talk about staffing and comeup with innovative ways to staff when your investigatorshave somewhere between 18 and 20 cases apiece, you know thatthere are going to be some challenges meeting not just the180, not just your timelines, but also ensuring consistencyin those investigations and making sure that those outcomesare consistent.THE COURT: And so is that the biggest impedimentthat you see to achieving full compliance? What would yousay the biggest impediment is?DEPUTY CHIEF SMITH: Well, I think that thecross-communication -- we're not -- the Internal AffairsBureau has expectations laid out by the tasks, but thoseexpectations will also require a full partnership with ourstakeholders that includes the community police reviewagency, that includes the police commission and ourpartnership with the City Attorney's Office.So I think that a good strategy moving forwardthat we're all bought into is going to be important. But I 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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would be reluctant to say that it's staffing alone. I thinkthat there's also the ability to train. As we look intosome of our quantitative endeavors moving forward in termsof procedural justice and ways that we can really hone in onthe potential for bias and completing an investigation, thenI would be comfortable in saying it's just more than onething, in my view.THE COURT: I think what you have to do, whatInternal Affairs has to do is one of the hardest things thatanybody has to do because you have to do it knowingsometimes it's personnel. It's particularly true when it ispeople that you know, and how you separate out implicit andnot so implicit bias and deal with people who have somepower within the organization, and just do it because it'sthe right -- make the right call because that's the only waythat the department will achieve the real goals that it has.It's the only way you get the constitutionalpolicing is doing things without fear or favor, and soyou're the man right now with respect to that, I'm justtelling you. And next May, I'm going to be coming back toyou and saying so what if you don't -- how is this set upfor the future? Thank you.DEPUTY CHIEF SMITH: Absolutely.THE COURT: And Michelle Phillips, please.MS. PHILLIPS: Good afternoon, Judge. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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THE COURT: Good afternoon. Nice to see you.MS. PHILLIPS: You too.THE COURT: So I'm really interested in how youspend your day. What does a constitutional policingadministrator do, and what's your assessment of sort ofwhere things stand and where they're going?MS. PHILLIPS: So I start my day at the PAB withour police department. I do have an office, I'm veryappreciative, it's on the eighth floor of the chief's suite. So I talk to our deputy chief, our assistantchief, our chief. I have regular standing meetings with ourdeputy chief, and I constantly am in Chief Beere's, officelike, "Chief, can I talk to you? Chief, can I talk to you?" Very observant for the first couple of weekstrying to understand the inner workings, the culture withinthe police department and that floor. Doing assessments, Idid take the opportunity -- Deputy Chief Smith and myselfwent down to IAB and spent several hours down there gettinga soup-to-nuts understanding of the intake processprocedurally and how it conforms to the policy that iswritten, as well as our investigatory process for internalaffairs as well.Sat down, took several notes and debriefed withthe chief about what we can do to better streamline theprocess to take any impediments out, see if there were any 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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challenges that directly impacted our ability to assess, toyour point, bias, whether it is implicit or explicit bias aswe move forward through the investigatory process.I go to several meetings -- the police departmenthas a lot of meetings -- which is good because that's anopportunity to share information and for me to garnerinformation and identify any areas and gaps potentially inpolicy, procedure, or application as we continue to movetowards very good comprehensive constitutional policing.I also share and debrief with my boss, CityAdministrator Jestin Johnson, about where we are, any ideasor recommendations I will have particularly around staffing,any impediments, whether it is our contractual process, ourhiring recruitment. Mayor Lee and her chief of staff have created aworking group for us to do the background and recruitmentassessments and identify areas where we can really, reallyhone in on what we need as far as our recruitment strategyfor or police department both sworn and non-sworn, as wellas just any kind of areas where we have some concerns withour Bureau of Risk Management. And I'll just be very candid, I was at the PABuntil about 7:30 last night with Deputy Chief Ausmus goingthrough our procedural justice kind of application andtraining ideas that she has as we start to move forward to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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identify what is necessary for Task 45 so we do not have theopportunity to backslide when we do gain completecompliance. Partial compliance is not acceptable. I thinktaking that ownership over the past month and a half I'vebeen at the PAB, I have absolutely seen a transformation ofthe culture.It is something that I think is very encouragingfor me to see on the outside looking in, the continuedcommunication, folks going from office to office, reallyengaged in talking about police reform efforts in a way thatis ingrained in the fabric of the department and not just aconcept as if the negotiated settlement agreement issomething separate and apart from constitutional policingand police reform efforts.I really want to thank the mayor's administrationfor leaning into and investing monetary resources andstaffing resources as well as the City Administrator'sOffice for making sure that that implementation happens viathe constitutional policing administrator position, becauseI think it is absolutely necessary. Long answer, but to the second part of yourquestion, I think making sure that there is an apparatusthat directly has a line to the mayor and the cityadministrator that does not report to the chief of police isimportant. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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I believe Chief Beere sees me as an advisor.She's told me plenty of times "Michelle, I really want yourrecommendations. Let's sit down and let's talk." And thatis for the entire command staff. They seek out guidance.They seek out my subject matter expertise in this work,which for me speaks to the fact that we have really startedto see some cultural change because they're investedholistically into this reform effort. And I am here to makesure that that happens while we are under the settlementagreement and that it is embedded in our policies andcultures as we exit, sir.THE COURT: So I'm very excited by everything thatyou've said. I think that this is the -- I think that oneof the first -- probably the first recognition that the Cityand OPD succeed together and they fail by pointing fingersat each other and the -- your position, I agree with you, Ithink is pivotal for the long-term success of constitutionalpolicing in Oakland, and so I'll be looking to you in May aswell to see how well things are progressing. Thank you verymuch.MS. PHILLIPS: Yes, sir. Thank you, Judge.THE COURT: So on to the lawyers. Mr. Chanin.Away from the substance, on to the lawyers. Please come onup.MR. CHANIN: Good afternoon, Your Honor. Nice to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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see you.THE COURT: Good to see you.MR. CHANIN: I'm very excited about the people andplace at the current time. I think they have the will to dothese tasks that are outstanding, something which has notalways been true. In fact, it hasn't been true for much ofthe time we've been here. But it is true now, and I'm very,very happy about that, and I'm excited to see them succeed,which I hope they do.I want to take -- briefly go through the tasksbecause you've done that, and that's been done a little.The City says that it's going to be in compliance in 2025 --2026, and we're looking forward to that. But the factremains they are not in compliance in 2025, and they'veactually fallen, as the monitor reports, quite a bit, in Ithink it's Class 1 and Class 2; so -- yeah, Class 1 andClass 2; so we're hoping that's reversed, but it hasn'tbeen. So we agree with the monitor's assessment they're notin compliance at this time, and we're hopeful that they willbe in compliance in the near future.As to Task 5, the Tran case, the City attorneygoes through this recital that the Tran case is an old case,and I have two responses. First of all, the Tran case is anold case, but it wasn't brought forth. The monitor neverknew about the Tran case, and the Tran case involved almost 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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every major supervisor in the police department that --well, not everyone, but many of them, including the chief,the head of Internal Affairs, one of the deputy chiefs; theywere all involved.And it's very disturbing to see after so manyyears that something of this scale happens. I'm not lookingfor perfection, but there's a difference from perfection andwhat happened in the Tran case, which was awful.And I think the City -- I don't think there'sanything wrong with expecting some time to pass before wesee that this Tran case, which is evocative of otherscandals throughout the time we've been here, is notrepeated in the form that it is.That doesn't mean mistakes won't be made. We'retalking about massive mistakes not -- of many supervisors,not just one mistake by one supervisor, some minor screwup.We can deal with that; no one's perfect, least of all me,and so that's okay. But of this size and magnitude, it'sunacceptable, and it can't happen anymore as it has over andover again.And the Tran case did not involve a singleofficer. They were all supervisors. And they all shouldn'thave done what they did. It's just that simple. And we nowhave new supervisors, who I feel much more confident in thanI did with the old ones, and that includes the chief of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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police who I have a lot of confidence in at this time.As for task 45, I disagree with the City attorneythat they're in compliance. But I think on the other hand,the fact that this disparity report by Ms. Burgess was doneby the OPD itself is highly, highly significant.This wasn't a hired report where they just, youknow, couldn't deal with some outside findings. This wastheir own report, and I feel really good about that, and Ifeel the right people are in place to remedy this issue.But it has to be remedied. It doesn't -- it's there,contrary to what the City attorney said in her brief.But I think on the other hand, the people arethere to make it dissipate -- not go away, because nothingis perfect -- but dissipate to the point where we don't talkabout it because it's in compliance.And the City also said that there's been no --Plaintiffs have not suggested any targeted intervention.I'm not sure what they're referring to. I was at a meetingwith Chief Beere, Captain Hubbard, and Aaron Smith, yes, andthe City attorney, and with John as well, and we did suggesta solution to this and that was that the existing -- therewas some -- the cases where African Americans were unfairlyor fairly singled out be drilled down and that we find outwho did them and why, and we find out if there's anysubstance to it. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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We also find out if maybe there is substance to itbut the white officer is doing the same thing and he getsaway or she gets away with a warning or some sort of slap onthe wrist, whereas the African American officer is veryharshly disciplined in a very formal way. That's anotherpossibility. We don't know what it is, but we want to seeit done, and we do have a solution, and a targeted one,which I just laid out, and we laid out in our brief as well.And I don't know where the City has disagreed withtheir own report in this brief and with the monitor and withus about Task 45, but I hope that's just something that wecan talk about historically rather than right now.THE COURT: Okay. Thank you.MR. CHANIN: Thank you.THE COURT: Mr. Burris.MR. BURRIS: As we talked about the lawyers, Ithought of Nancy Grace, when you knew you were in bigtrouble.Judge, I think this is all very nice, pleased tohear about the efforts on the part of the City personnel,but as the Court may know from the very beginning, andcertainly from the start I have been involved in this case,that the operative words here are "trust" and "verify." AndI certainly am inclined and would like to and have alwaystrusted the environment to the people here, but 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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unfortunately in a lot of instances it has not come forwardand verified what we want to occur.It is no secret here that the issue of racialdisparity, 45, is a fundamentally important issue here. Wehave been -- and she went through all the various othertasks, and I am very heartened when I look at what happenedin Minnesota where there's no way of, so far, being able tohold officers accountable, the internal mechanism that mightexist that would hold officers accountable, we don't havethat problem here, except when an officer's involved.And that's the problem I see, and my concern isthe systems and all the policies that have been written,they're great, you know, and we worked hard on them. Theonly issue is when a process develops, do you follow it? Doyou really follow it? And we know that in the Tran case and other caseswe've had down through the years that when push comes toshove and an officer who was liked, well defended, thatsomehow the rules are not followed.And I do think there is some very important -- andthat to me raises the question of the racial issues herebecause there has to be some reason why we're having numberslike this. They should not -- if people are makingdecisions that are objective and nonracial, then the datashould not be obscured the way it is. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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And so that is troubling to me as to how -- andfor the City to find out and to dig deep to identify why andwhere the decisions are made that is causing these numbersto be obscured in one direction or another.I don't see how we get to true constitutionalpolicing -- even though we have in other areas -- if wecan't take care of this problem internally. And one mightargue why Mr. Burris has brought on this issue, but it is anissue that is very important to me because how you treat theofficers within the department may reflect how you treat thepeople in the community. So to me it all goes together.So the question here to me is can the departmentdrill down in such a way to identify where it is that thediscrepancies are taking place and then put something inplace to ensure that it does not happen again or does nothappen on a consistent basis.Because it is not -- and I've said this quotebefore -- it is not how we feel today, it's how thedepartment functions five years from now. It's for theofficers who are coming in tomorrow and how the people inthe community are living here the next day and the day afterthat. That is our objective, and that is what our futurehas to be about.And so it's beautiful. I've been here a longtime, as the Court knows, and there's been great people here 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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on this side of the table every time I've come here. Butthe problem still exists, whether I -- whether the peopleare good or not.And so the question to this group here is drillingdown, identifying the problem, and so that this issue hasbeen cemented in such a way that I refer to it as a hole ina leaky ship. That if we leave this here, no matter what,the ship sill sink at some later point, and we don't wantthat to occur.So all I'm really saying is that it is importantthat the Court hone in on this particular issue -- which theCourt has done -- and for the staff to understand that we'renot leaving until this deal is done. And everybody's good, good faith, but it's not --the proof is in the pudding, and so we have not got thereyet, and I'm hopeful that we will in the near future becausewe'd like to leave too.So anyways, that's my views about it, andeverybody is great, but at the end of the day, the proof isin the pudding and you got to get it done; all right?THE COURT: Mr. Burris, that's exactly why I'mhaving the CMC in May and requiring that the stats for 2025be prepared by May 1st so that you have data -- so that weall have data as well as the analysis of the deputy chiefand everybody else with knowledge so that we can drill into 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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this issue because it is the hardest of the issues thatremain, and it remains. MR. BURRIS: Right.THE COURT: So I'll underline most of what yousaid -- I don't want to endorse all of it -- but I'llunderline all of it.MR. BURRIS: That's okay. Thank you.THE COURT: Okay. All right. Thank you.Mr. Lucia.MR. LUCIA: Your Honor, on behalf of the OaklandPolice Officers Association, I just want to share ourenthusiasm and confidence in the new structure that theCity's built, and in particular the elevation of Chief Beereand his command staff as currently structured, along withMichelle Phillips, I think, is a change to what we've seenin the past.And I think Michelle spoke to what she's doing,and I know that Chief Beere has grown up in the city ofOakland and in the Oakland Police Department, and a lot ofhis command staff members, we are very familiar with.I do know that there is a great degree ofcollaboration between the Oakland POA and the command staff,and I know that this command staff, they've got a lot ofchallenges ahead. They've got critically low staffinglevels, they've got crime that they have to deal with to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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serve the citizens of Oakland, and they have to accomplishwhat we're here to talk about, which is, you know, complyingwith the NSA while providing constitutional policing.I personally and professionally believe that Chief Beere and his command staff are up to the task. Mostof his command staff members that I'm familiar with arehighly respected. I'm not familiar with all of them, butmost of them are, and that's a great sign for the future asthey will, I think, imbue into the entire ranks up and downthe sense of purpose and commitment, and having Chief Beereas a resident of Oakland is very important.I know many of the police officers that are nowserving -- and those numbers are increasing -- are residentsof Oakland. So I think they are committed to the people ofOakland, and that's really what this is about.THE COURT: Great. Thank you.So Mr. Garcia-Acosta, I would love to hear fromyou about your perspective on the police commission and theissues that we've been talking about.MR. GARCIA-ACOSTA: May it please the Court,Your Honor. Ricardo Garcia-Acosta, chair of the OaklandPolice Commission. We thank you for this opportunity toshare our perspective and be able to update the court onsome of our efforts over the last several months.At the last case management conference, you asked 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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our collective group to think about what it means to sustaincultural change. For our part in this task, the OaklandPolice Commission remain just steadfast and committed to ourwork and accomplishing what a lot of folks may think isimpossible or may be outside of the capabilities of civilianvolunteers.On the contrary, our efforts integrating the CPRAand the Office of the Inspector General have created aneffective community-centered oversight body that supportsOPD with the critical tools for constitutional policing andtransparency.We've worked hand in hand with executiveleadership, and we want to continue doing this and puttingour best foot forward to continue to drive culturaltransformation after court oversight.The commission recognizes and applauds the strongleadership of Mayor Lee, the city administrator Johnson, andChief Beere and his team, and we stand with them to championa clear message to our city that constitutional policingmakes for better policing, effective and improved publicsafety, and the outcomes are going to reflect the City'svalues and what the communities and residents and Oaklandwish to see in their police department.We do appreciate since the last time we'vepresented ourselves here at the court that we have more of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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an intentional seat at the table. We've been meetingbiweekly with the NSA core group that Mayor Lee hasconvened, and collectively the totality of this work is whatyou see today.The proof is in the pudding. You see tangibleresults, you've heard testimony today from our team and Cityleadership, and it's not just -- as you've heard, justsomething theoretically. There's something that's been putin action that you can feel in the halls of PAB, that youcan feel in the halls of city hall, and you can feel inOakland.And so we really want to continue to work and laythe foundation to move this forward, support Chief Beerenow, and continue the work of solidifying the search for apermanent chief -- right? -- to continue this collaborativework.We're really excited at the direction we're going,and despite any challenges that may be out there -- I'm sureyou've seen articles, you've seen things going on -- thatdoesn't stop the work that we're doing here as a commission,and it doesn't stop our partnership that we've been able tobuild with the City leadership.So as we prioritize planning for the future, wereally want to focus and hone in on the things that we dowell and really manage our capacity, leverage resources, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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work with CPRA, OIG, with our offices, and make sure thatwe're moving forward in a way that makes sense not only forthe City, but for our work as well as the police commission.The OPC leadership also welcomes our continuedlearning and different opportunities and further discussionwith the federal monitor, with our City leadership, with thepolice department, so that we can continue working our rolein being as effective as possible as we move into the nextphase of this work.We'll continue to work tirelessly and to ensureOPC's long-term fiscal stability and make sure that we'redoing our part in this whole ecosystem to make sure thatthere's strong constitutional policing and to continue tohighlight the effectiveness of our current oversight bodyand all the progress that the department and the City hasbeen making.So thank you, and I appreciate the opportunity toaddress the Court.THE COURT: Thank you.Ms. Martin.MS. MARTIN: Thank you, Your Honor.And for the court reporter, Brigid Martin for theCity of Oakland.I think it's remarkable that we're here today, andone of our main sticking points and areas of disagreement 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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between attorneys has to do with Task 45 but specificallywith looking at aggregated data to see if we can spot trendsto tell us more information about how we can impactdisparities in our policies, in our processes, and in oursystem.That's something that frankly 20 years ago when weagreed to make all these changes and have our constitutionalpolicing model, I don't think any of us saw that as apossibility, and we have that as an additional tool now andit's amazing.For 20 years, the monitor's assessments and howthe police department looked at (audio interruption) --COURT REPORTER: She's cutting out.THE COURT: Okay. We'll be taping it as well; soplease, Ms. Martin, go ahead.MS. MARTIN: Thank you.For the last 20 years how we've really looked atwhether or not there's consistency in discipline is on theindividual case level. That's how the monitor assessed itfor a long time.If you read past monitor reports, it talks about,"Well, we looked at these case outcomes. Were theydisciplined within the discipline matrix? Were the outcomesappropriate? If they were outside of the discipline matrix,was that documented as to the reasons why? Is this case 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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specifically disciplined appropriately?" And that's one wayof looking at consistency of discipline. A very differentway of looking at it is to look at the aggregated data andto see if we can spot trends.Now, statistics and what you make of them and howyou impact the processes and our policies and our work basedon those is very different than how we look at and how weimpact our work if we see that a specific case was nothandled inappropriately -- or handled appropriately.And what's been keeping us from getting to the endof the sustainability period so far has really been morefocused on these failures with specific cases --inconsistency in discipline in the Tran case, in the Chungcase, whether it's favoritism or looking the other way --some people were not treated the same way as others. Andthat is a different question than are there disparateimpacts in our processes and in our policies.Now, we've all worked together to createstate-of-the art policies that are race neutral on theirface and that we hope are the best that we can do forconstitutional policing. If there are trends and disparateimpacts, now that's something that we have to look at how weintervene to reduce those disparate impacts to the extent wecan. Part of that is figuring out what's causing them.Now, we've gotten some information on this 2024 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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disparity with the internal case intake and where the casesare coming from, and that's important. And I agree withMr. Chanin and Mr. Burris when they say that we've talkedabout how we can drill down on that a little bit more.Let's get more information and look at things like when youlook at the cases were those specific cases decidedappropriately?We did look to see if there were particularofficers or investigators who were involved and if that wasa correlating factor. That was not. But that's still --that's looking, then, at the specific cases, and we canstill do that, but that may not tell us what is causing it.That may not allow us to take a scalpel and surgicallyaddress and fix the problem as easily as that.It may be that it takes things like additionalprocedural justice training. That should be and is anongoing thing that the department has because that has to --instead of throwing a precise dart or using a scalpel, thathas to address the entire system and make sure that we'reall aware of implicit bias and how bias can creep into asystem. But these are two different tools, and we are luckyto have these two different tools now to identify that.Now, there's no one saying that we don't careabout or that the trends and the disparity from theaggregated data is somehow different or less meaningful. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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That is just as meaningful to us, and we care deeply abouttrying to reduce both disparate treatment in the specificcases and disparate impacts that we can identify throughthese trends.One of the things that makes these two tools verydifferent, though, is that we do need a monitor or a thirdparty to oversee and report on the disparity that's inindividual cases, and that's because those are confidentialand we can't just give that information to Plaintiffs'counsel without the Court oversight so they can see howwe're doing.The difference with the data is that theaggregated data is all public. That will be available toPlaintiffs' counsel, to union representatives, to the policecommission, to everyone in the public going forward. Sothis is something that we can continue to address withoutCourt oversight and without the monitor. There will be noadditional information that they won't have. So that is avery different and a significant difference between thosetwo kinds of tools that we have and how we can address themgoing forward.We have seen a cohesiveness within the city basedon the mayor's work and with the mayor's leadership that isvery heartening. People are coming together in a way toreally own our constitutional policing model and understand 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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that this is not simply an external mandate that has to befollowed. This is our -- based on our values, what the Cityhas promised to do, and there's a reason behind every singletask and subtask. And I think with everyone coming together tounderstand that this is our model and that we are empoweredto own that constitutional policing model and to make itbetter is really going to be key and help us to get to aposition where we're not only hoping or fighting againstbacksliding or resistance, but that we continue to make thismomentum forward and continue this transformation becausethat is something that we're hoping to do even after we endcourt oversight.THE COURT: Great. Thank you, Ms. Martin.Mayor Lee, I would love to hear whatever you haveto say.MAYOR LEE: Barbara Lee, mayor of the City ofOakland. Well, good afternoon, Your Honor. It's reallygood to see you again.THE COURT: Good afternoon.MAYOR LEE: When we were here last July, Ipromised that under my leadership the City would focus notonly on NSA compliance but what comes after the courtoversight ends. And I want this done, as I said, under mywatch; so it's all hands on deck to get into compliance on 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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the remaining tasks and to prepare the department and theCity to be in the best possible position to keep themomentum going in the right direction even after we are outof court oversight, and we certainly have accomplished a lotin the past several months toward these goals, but we stillhave much more work to do.Now, in December, our monitor, Chief Warshaw, cameto Oakland, and I met with the monitor to make sure that weare on the same page and in agreement on what needs to bedone.Now, we have instituted a constitutional policingunit inside of OPD to oversee our roadmap for compliance.You heard Michelle Phillips -- she's well respected,experienced, and is doing a phenomenal job -- who servedalso as the Oakland Police Commission's very first inspectorgeneral, and she's now serving, of course, as our interimconstitutional policing administrator in that unit until wemake a permanent hire.Also I want to also acknowledge Reverend Damita,who is a member of my public safety -- she's actually mypublic safety director in my office, who has been soinstrumental in moving this process forward.Now, let me just mention my relationship with andcommendation of Chief Beere. I just want to say that he andhis team have been very effective in working together with 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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our office. You heard his presentation and the answers tohis questions -- to your questions, and he and his team arecommitted to moving forward and making this a prioritywithin OPD.Now, with regard to Task 2, under our strategy theCity's internal affairs case timelines, they have improved,and the information that I have received from the departmentis that every indication is that we will exceed 85 percentfor the last quarter of 2025. But, of course, it's not onlymeeting the numbers, but it's also what you said earlier interms of making sure that we keep in compliance and whatthat really means by meeting these numbers.OPD is adding officers to assist primary care-- excuse me -- investigations. OPD and Michelle Phillipsare evaluating case intake to remove delays in assigning andstarting investigations, and we're making sure OPD and CPRAare better coordinating on timelines with regard to Tasks 5and 45.For the tasks involving the quality of ourinvestigations and the consistency of discipline, Task 5 andTask 45 is OPD's constitutional policing administratorMichelle Phillips. She's also focused on both the integrityof internal investigations as well as the consistency ofdiscipline, which as we know and you know and the attorneyshave laid out this morning and over the course of the last 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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20-some years.Now, as Attorney Burris said, "Yes, trust, butverify." In other words, we must be intentional,intentional. And, yes, it is the hardest issue, but racialjustice is critical to constitutional policing; so it's hardbut we've got to be intentional about correcting this, andwe're in the process of doing just that.And I want to say that I share the same concernsabout ensuring accountability for Oakland's police officers.I've read the most recent report from OPD that shows that in2024 Black and brown officers had the worst outcomes, moreso than white officers, in internal affairs investigations.So we need to make sure that all of our officers are beingtreated fairly.Our constitutional policing model is not justabout how we treat members of the public, but also how wetreat our own officers. It's important to the City and tome personally that the men and women who serve in ourdepartment are treated fairly, and that's why I've askedChief Beere and Deputy Chief Aaron Smith to draft their ownresponse to the 2024 report, for us to discuss together, tomake sure that we understand all the information that wehave about discipline outcomes and appropriately addressingthese concerns to make sure that the discipline process isfair for all of our officers. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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Now, as I've said before, I'm not just interestedin task compliance, Your Honor, I want to make sure that weare continuing to move the culture of our police departmentin a positive direction and a big part of that is hiring theright people.Now, please bear with me for just a few minuteswhile I just get into a few of the weeds of this becauseI've become very in tune with policing in a few monthsthat -- how many months now since May 20th? Since I've beenmayor, but I love getting into the weeds of OPD because thisis about public safety and it's also about accountability. And so we need to build up our department, but weneed to do it the right way. We need a police departmentthat mirrors the culture of the community that it serves andthat brings the partnership issues and the importance of thepartnership with the community and OPD together.To do that I have really been focusing onrecruitment strategies and partnerships with local communitygroups, nonprofits, and businesses that promote inclusivityand reach populations and communities within our city thathave historically been underrepresented in the department'sapplicant pool. After going for more than a year without apolice academy, OPD just graduated an academy with 14 newofficers, and there is a second academy underway thatstarted in November. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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I also understand from Chief Beere there are anumber of officers who left the department that now want toreturn. So we may have enough for an entire class of 12 to15 lateral officers, we'll see. And I'm deeply grateful toChief Beere for making this a priority.And one example that I'm especially proud of isjust last week we announced that the City, thanks to apartnership with some of our local businesses, Kaiser andPG&E, along with Merritt College, we're restarting the OPDcadet program.This program allows young people in our communitywho are attending college to get paid work experienceworking part time at OPD. The cadet program brings moreresources to OPD, the kind of resources to make a positivecultural impact and will hopefully lead to more academyrecruits from our community.Another example, we've partnered with a localcommunity college, Merritt College. Merritt College'sadministrative of justice degree program began a pre-policeacademy class on January 20th, and that's an eight-weekprogram designed to prepare students for the physical,academic, and professional demands of the Oakland PoliceAcademy. Twenty-eight students, mind you, are currentlyenrolled in the course. Again, we're partnering locally tobuild our own department to reflect communities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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demographically and culturally, and this is part of thecultural change that we have to make sure that we sustainthe gains that we're making.I'm also trying to get a program started where wehave graduate interns in master's of social work programsserving as interns in the department to infuse some of thestrategies employed in social work programs into thedepartment's culture to institutionalize and systemize ourconstitutional policing principles. I'm a social worker byprofession. I have my MSW from UC Berkeley, and I know theimportance of having this input into good constitutionalpolicing.Also let me just say we've been involved veryintimately with having community engagements and finding away to make sure that the community understands what the NSAis and what oversight means. Why does it exist? Why are weworking to complete the tasks and maintain the integrity ofthe outcomes? I learned very quickly that so many peopledid not know what these three tasks were, and so part ofwhat we're doing is educating everyone in Oakland as to whythis is important.And, of course, hiring a new police chief is alsoa priority now, and finding a way to move forward, the rightfit is very important to continuing our important work incarrying this forward. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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Outside of the department I'm also working to addnew members to our police commission who understand and willpromote constitutional policing and accountability andcontinue to help build a positive relationship with thedepartment and the community.And I have to say the term "constitutionalpolicing," after Michelle Phillips was hired a lot of peoplewere asking me "What is it? What does that mean?" And soI'm beginning to see now the understanding in the communityof what constitutional policing really means, whereas priorto now I don't believe people really knew the importance ofthat and what it really meant, Your Honor.And you may be aware that I have the privilege ofappointing two members to serve on the police commission toshape civilian oversight of the department, and so I havenominated two community members who have agreed to serve asvolunteers on the City's police commission. They will bothbe excellent additions to the commission. They are retiredSuperior Court Judge Evelio Grillo, and retired Contra CostaFirefighter Doug Wong. Judge Grillo holds a law degree from Harvard LawSchool as well as a master's degree in public policy and abachelor's in political science from the University ofCalifornia at Berkeley. He has also taught at UC Berkeleyand Stanford University law schools. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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Doug Wong, in addition to being a firefighter fornearly 30 years, has worked as staff for the Oakland UnifiedSchool District, was chief of staff to former Berkeley CityCouncil Member Diane Woolen [ph] for ten years, is currentlyon the American Red Cross Leadership Council East Bay. Healso is president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance,Oakland Chapter.Now, these two volunteers are committed toempowering our city and the community to take ownership ofour constitutional policing model and to end our need --sooner or later, preferably sooner -- for court oversight.And so again, we're doing a deep dive on what exactly isnecessary to complete this oversight.And finally, Your Honor, let me just say to you Idid say at the last hearing that I really wanted this endedunder my watch, and I want to thank everyone in the city andOPD, the Plaintiffs' attorneys, for understanding that I'mnot ready either to end this, but I do believe we will beable to complete these tasks. It's all hands on deck, and Iwant to thank you for the instructions from yourself and thecourt for making sure that we stay on track. Thank youagain.THE COURT: Thank you, Mayor Lee.I have to say there have been a few mayors who'vewho have been here and have given very thoughtful 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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expressions of what they wanted to do. Nobody has shown asort of holistic understanding of what it's going to takeand what's necessary. And if I had, you know, gone back andthought for a year about the different sort of policy andother things that I could do, I'm not sure I could have comeup with everything that you're doing, Mayor Lee. So I just-- I am very optimistic.There is -- this is still -- we've got to bring itacross the finish line, and so I'm looking forward to theCMC in May where I hope to learn about all of the drillingdown and the understandings, and I hope that the data that'salready cooked turns out to be a lot better than what we sawin 2024, and that we sort of push on and continue to push inthe direction that you are leading the city in. So thankyou very much.MAYOR LEE: Thank you, Your Honor. I want to justsay I think working with our legal team and with the Cityand coming as a former community activist -- still, maybe --and with a social work lens, that's helping me see the bigpicture, and I think their input and their expertise reallyis what's driving this to help me pull all of this together.THE COURT: You're listening to them, which alsomatters.MAYOR LEE: Thank you.THE COURT: Thank you. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425
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All right. So I guess the only other thing that Iwould say is I'd be remiss in not thanking Chief Warshaw andthe monitor's team for their dogged efforts in helping OPDunderstand how to achieve compliance, and I'm really lookingforward -- this is -- I'm looking forward a lot more than Ithought I would be to May 27th and our next CMC.So thank you-all very much for being here. I lookforward to seeing you then.(Proceedings adjourn at 4:15 PM.)* * * CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER I certify that the foregoing is a correct transcript from the record of proceedings in the above-entitled matter. /s/ Robin L. Herrera February 17th, 2026 Robin L. Herrera, RMR, CRR, CRC Date Official Court Reporter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516171819202122232425