Live Reporting: Oakland Police Commission Approves Mitchell Amendments to OPD Pursuit Policy

Last night, the Oakland Police Commission [OPC] approved Oakland Police Chief Floyd Mitchell's Pursuit Policy amendments. Here's the link to the Thread Reader thread, which you can read whether you're on Twitter or not. Also linked is a PDF which is easier to read, but lacks the live video in the Thread Reader link.

Here are the amendments as they appeared on the agenda last night. They were approved in whole.

Notes and Clarifications:

—The policy passed last night had three edits that changed the policy which OPD originally enacted in 2014 and modified significantly in 2022. The most significant was the removal of Special Order 9212, which was enacted by former Chief Leronne Armstrong in 2022. Another change, per Mitchell, was the inclusion of text he said was accidentally removed during that 2022 update, which he says allows any officer involved in the pursuit to call off the pursuit. Just noting the language of the text in question doesn't clearly appear to do that, despite his claim.

—The next biggest change after rescinding of 9212 is the change in language on initiating a pursuit. As OO observed in a previous report, the language itself has always been vague about what initiating a pursuit is, and when to get authorization for a pursuit. That continues in Mitchell's edit. The change is subtle, and it's not clear what effect it will have in practice.

The edits accepted by the OPC last night are an improvement on a previous edit by Mitchell which would have allowed request for authorization at any time during the pursuit. According to Chair Garcia-Acosta, the OPC declined to accept those, then met with Mitchell and other stakeholders, including the NSA monitor, plaintiffs and an ad hoc committee of the Commission to eliminate the additional ambiguity.

The new language hews closely to the original 2014-era text, which indicated that shortly after taking the steps to initiate a pursuit, the officer must call in to get authorization. But since both are vague to begin with, it will be pattern and practice which ends up telling the story.

—Mitchell also noted that the changes won't be implemented immediately, and will follow a period of introduction and training, so the new policy is likely months down the line. In the meantime, the current policy is in effect. Because there was no dispute between OPC and OPD, the new policy does not have to go to City Council for final approval.

—Mitchell claimed that Most Oakland pursuits last less than five minutes and most last 90 seconds. "I would wager that 70% of them are over in less than a mile, and less than 2 minutes."

Per Mitchell, the goal of a pursuit is to establish contact for air support to take over the pursuit, with patrol cars falling back.

—Despite the years-long quest for radical expansion of criteria for pursuit being a crucial jewel in the crown for Oakland and the region's "moderate" and MAGA movement, the meeting was nearly bereft of complaints about the comparatively modest changes from the right. Only one speaker, Rajni Mandal, who frequently publishes on the Oakland Report, was mildly critical of the changes for not going far enough. Of about 15 speakers counted by this publication who spoke on the item, 14 thought the changes were problematic and/or that the policy should not be changed at all.

—After the vote, Commissioner Wilson Riles noted that the Commission should seek answers about why Dashcam cameras and GPS monitoring are not standard on the vehicles, given the interest in pursuits. He also suggested that the Oakland Police Officer's Association has closed off including these in Oakland vehicles in negotiations with the City.

—During the meeting OO was unable to identify two Oakland organizations who brought attendees. Those were:

Oakland Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression

Urban Peace Movement

Note Added 9/28:

Council President/Rules Chair Jenkins at the Council's Rules Committee that same day declined to forward the Commission Selection Panel's re-appointments of Alternate Commissioner Omar Farmer and OPC Chair Ricardo Garcia-Acosta to the full Council. Jenkins claimed that "concerns arose around these appointments, so its my expectation that the Selection Committee will hear this again and take up those concerns" but did not elaborate. That's worth noting because Jenkins, who also initially co-authored legislation for the OPC to review the pursuit policy, was seated in the chambers during deliberation, along with CM Ken Houston.