Oakland Observer Week Ending 6/25/2023: Calls for Resignation Met with Controversial Statements from Chair at Police Commission
Calls for Resignation Met with Inflammatory Statements from Police Commission Chair
Police Commission Chair Tyfarah Milele responded to calls for her resignation by the Coalition for Police Accountability [CPA] and at least two fellow Commissioners with a 15 minute prepared statement in which she called out members of the public at Thursday’s Commission meeting. The unprecedented action comes as the CPA’s broad criticism of the Commission has become increasingly focused on Milele’s leadership and calls for her resignation–including at a lightly attended rally in front of City Hall in which Commissioners Regina Jackson and Marsha Peterson participated. The CPA recently sent a letter to the City Council requesting the body remove both Milele and fellow Commissioner Brenda Harbin-Forte. Harbin-Forte has also come under fire from the CPA for her actions and commentary during the call for Milele’s ouster. The CPA letter accuses Harbin-Forte of Trumpian behavior lacking "civility or decency."
In recent weeks, former Chair and current Commissioner Jackson has publicly sided with the CPA after months of visible personal enmity on the dais with Milele and another member of the Commission, Brenda Harbin-Forte.
Milele Sent Accusatory Letter to KTVU on Commission Letterhead
Milele’s comments follow a statement she sent to local television news broadcaster KTVU on Police Commission letterhead earlier this month, accusing the station of running a hit-piece on behalf of the CPA, which she characterized as “a small group of politically ambitious zealots.” Milele also tweeted the letter from the official Police Commission Twitter account, but apparently, Milele did not consult the Commission as a whole about the response.
KTVU’s reporting had criticized her leadership for alleged delays in the process of hiring former OPD Chief Leronne Armstrong's replacement and quoted members of the CPA on other disputes with Milele, including a letter the group wrote to the Commission demanding her resignation as Chair and outlining alleged Milele misconduct and errors. KTVU has continued to report the issue from the point of view of the CPA, most recently publishing the letter to Council members urging them to use their powers to remove Milele and Harbin-Forte.
In her florid response to KTVU, Milele counters that the current process is proceeding on the same pace as the one that hired Armstrong. The KTVU reporting, in fact, did not compare the timelines of former Chiefs Leronne Armstrong and Anne Kirkpatrick post-firing processes, despite the fact that both were dismissed in mid-February two years apart, creating an almost perfect overlay comparison.
The former selection and hiring process that hired Armstrong took a year–about three months longer than the projected timeline for the current one to replace Armstrong. A comparative timeline in Thursday's agenda reveals that in the former process, as in this one, no candidates had yet been identified by June.
Personal Attacks from the Dais
Milele’s extremely personal statement fom the dais on Thursday unquestionably described–but never mentioned by name–Rashidah Grinage, a long-standing leader in the CPA. Milele used incendiary language to describe criticisms from Grinage, several times referring to racism and improper attempts to influence the Commission. Twice during Milele’s statement–made at the discretion of the Chair during a regular announcement–Commissioner Karely Ordaz interrupted Milele demanding she stop and move on to Commission business. But Milele continued and warned Ordaz her request was out of order.
Milele in her remarks also accused NSA plaintiff counsel Jim Chanin, NSA Monitor Robert Warshaw and the CPA of colluding to prolong the NSA period. In her remarks, Milele referred to Chanin as Grinage’s “dear friend who also chairs the selection panel of the Commission itself while being paid by the City as a plaintiff’s attorney.” Milele also mentioned Jackson, Peterson and Cathy Leonard, President of the CPA.
Tension continued throughout the meeting, with barely concealed enmity from Ordaz, Harbin-Forte, Jackson and Peterson on other items, such as the reauthorization of a contract with the Commission’s outside legal counsel.
Grinage, Leonard Respond to Milele's Personal Attacks
After Milele’s remarks, during the public comment period, both Grinage and Leonard responded to the comments. Grinage was measured in her response given the tone and content of Milele's claims.
“This is not a good strategy for community engagement. Community engagement doesn’t mean gathering people who will listen politely and applaud no matter what you say. Community engagement means listening to the people who you particularly don’t want to listen to,” Grinage said.
Leonard for her part, complained that she was being attacked personally for the work of the entire organization. Leonard also accused Milele of violating the standards and rules of the Commission.
“As the Chair you have violated the enabling ordinance, the Charter, the Rules of Order…the code of conduct and the way that you treat the public and the way you allow other Commissioners to treat the public and other members of the Police Commission,” Leonard said.
Deep Roots of Dysfunction and Growing Personality Clashes
The conflict that now has embroiled the Commission picked up steam during the investigation of Leronne Armstrong, but has its roots in interpersonal hostilities, obstacles and failures that precede Milele’s tenure and even the current membership. Some, including the CPA, thought many of the Commission's issues would be resolved by a new ballot measure strengthening the body, outlining its right to private counsel and creating a more powerful investigative body in the Office of the Inspector General passed in 2020. But problems have persisted, and new conflicts emerged. Ironically, the incoming Inspector General, Michelle Phillips, has pursued an ethics investigation against Milele.
A long history of conflict and failures, in fact, perhaps even too numerous to mention here, has dogged the Commission from the outset: heated public battles between former Commissioners in competition for the Chair position; controversial statements and actions that became central to the victory of former Chief Kirkpatrick in her lawsuit against the City; a failure to supervise a contract with the Commission’s Counsel that resulted in the firm being unpaid for nearly two years; the abrupt dismissal of the former Community Police Review Agency [CPRA] director, John Alden; the failure to retain Alden's potential replacement, Aaron Zisser who left the City after only six months of filling the interim role; the years-long delay of a feasibility study for an IAD to CPRA transition the Mayor’s budget now relies on.
All of this has been exacerbated by what appears to have been a growing personal relationship with Armstrong by several Commissioners. Notably, Jackson vocally took Armstrong’s side during criticism from Alameda County's Public Defender at the Commission in 2021, impugning the PD's intentions during open session. At a meeting in 2022, at the request of Armstrong, Jackson shut down a presentation by Alden on OPD's racialized disproportionate use of force, despite the fact that Alden's presentation had been agendized.
Jackson told the body, "It sounds like to me that it would be appropriate to stay in their lanes...OPD gets to report about OPD, and CPRA reports about CPRA...so that things don't get confused".
Alden was fired by the body a month later with no explanation.
Jackson also appears in an OPD recruitment video during the Armstrong administration's media-driven promotions for academy recruitment. The video appears more like a military recruitment ad, with slow motion images of officers rappelling down the side of police headquarters, using drones and flying the police helicopter.
Commission Fails to Play a Role in the IAD/Armstrong Issues
Perhaps the biggest recent failure of the Commission was the absence of any role at all in the investigation of Oakland's Internal Affairs Department and former Chief Armstrong. The Commission failed to make use its subpoena power to demand necessary reports and documents, leaving its members unable to weigh the facts alongside the Mayor's office and Monitor. The Commission subsequently called a disciplinary committee meeting on the issue in a race to assert control over the process, though it appears to have lacked the authority to do so under the Charter. The CPA strenuously objected to the move, which was spearheaded by Milele, arguing that it would leave the Commission open to sanction and litigation. Thao made the issue a moot point by firing Armstrong on the day the Commission had scheduled their meeting. The Commission nevertheless injected itself into the milieu by voting unanimously to issue a largely supportive statement about Armstrong that implied Thao erred in his dismissal and that the Monitor's review process was faulty.
The missteps by the Police Commission bubbled to the surface during a heated public discussion on a proposal for hiring new Commission staff in February, shortly after Armstrong was fired by Thao. During the discussion, Commissioner Jesse Hsieh pled to his fellow Commissioners to pay heed to the Commission's spiral.
“We are failing. We are reactionary, and we are not complying with our oversight responsibilities … we are supposed to be the most powerful police commission in the entire country, and we had something blow up in our face in the last two months,” Hsieh said, referring to the IAD investigation.
Focus on Milele Obscures Commission Roles and CPA Influence
While the Armstrong/IAD issues brewed, Commissioners–who can all propose policy and action for a vote through the Chair–failed to use any of the tools at their disposal to intervene. Chair Milele’s first attempt to request necessary records through normal channels was unanimously supported by the Commission–despite the fact that it was addressed directly and solely to Chief Armstrong, who apparently ignored the request. No effort to follow up was made for months.
The escalating tensions also have roots in the CPA's close and unique relationship with the Commission. The CPA co-wrote the legislation that became the ballot measures that first created and then amended the Commission. The CPA has been the Commission's most vocal booster and defender both during the long legislative period and after, in intense public disputes with the City Administration about implementation. The CPA’s members make up the few consistent public participants in the Commission’s meetings, which while open to the public, receive very little attendance–the outsized role has caused a blurring of lines between the commission and the body. The lack of any other organizational interaction with the Commission has exacerbated the appearance that the Commission is locked in dialogue with just one group, the CPA, not the general public.
Potential Shifts in Membership on Horizon
The conflict comes as a shift in the six commissioner [and two alternates] body could affect the current composition of the Commission. Commissioner Brenda Harbin-Forte, an ally of Milele who has also become a target of criticism due to her conflicts with a Council member and comments on the dais, was appointed by Schaaf, but her term officially ended in October. Schaaf submitted Harbin-Forte's reappointment in November, but Council supported a move to hold over all commission and panel appointments until the new Mayor assumed office. Since taking office, however, Thao has made no move on the appointment. Thao is in the unique position to replace Harbin-Forte unilaterally without the appearance of cause.
Of the other Commissioners who’ve been involved in turmoil, Milele, who was appointed by the community selection committee, terms out in October, along with Peterson, a Mayoral appointment. Milele has applied for reappointment by the panel. Vice Chair David Jordan, who ascended to full Commissioner from alternate after the resignation of former Commissioner Henry Gage, has also applied to the selection committee for reappointment. Mayoral appointee Ordaz and her fellow community alternate Jackson-Castain have both reapplied for full membership to the selection panel and if they are appointed they would assume full Commissioner status with voting power.
Mixed Success for the Commission
Despite many failures, it's worth noting that the Commission has been responsible for significant changes in OPD, some of which are historical, unprecedented and influential. An ad hoc committee led by Commissioners Hsieh and Jordan was able to add significant amendments to an OPD militarized equipment use policy, in which members of the public assisted. The use policy was mandated by an ordinance written by the Commission and passed by Council in 2021. The ordinance then became the inspiration for similar state-level legislation.
The Commission was also influential in crafting new OPD rules for asphyxiating restraint and famously prompted the dismissal of former Chief Kirkpatrick, who was regarded as a major impediment to completing the NSA tasks. Thao's idea for transitioning the IAD into the CPRA comes from a Commission-led process, though the Commission has since bungled and delayed it. Many of the Commission's successes have come during periods of similar turmoil and success has historically been mixed with conflict and failure in the body.
Later at the same meeting, as an example, IAD representatives and Commissioners discussed amendments to procedure that incorporate the recommendations of NSA Judge William Orrick following the IAD failures. The changes could allow OPD back into a sustainability period that would mean eventual end of monitoring and the NSA, and could prevent risks of favoritism and blind-eye practices at the OPD that led to the current scandal. But it's unclear how the escalating turmoil at the Police Commission, the body that the City will rely on to maintain compliance with NSA objectives, will affect Orrick's decision.
Council News this Week:
Council passes “Civil Protection for the People” ordinance, with a minor amendment that excludes areas of focus of the Public Ethics Commission. Council’s discussion was cursory, necessary only to post amendments to the overhead screen.
Ban on Cannabis Cultivation in Live-Work Sites passes. There was no council discussion of the item.
Measure X Mandated Increase to City Auditor and City Attorney Positions Passed
At Committees This Week:
Finance Committee: The Committee will review and discuss several reports, including a semi-annual staffing report, reports on the Oakland fire pension investments, and reports on grants and nonprofits.
Community and Economic Development:
The Committee will discuss several reports, including the General Plan and Housing Element and an annual Impact Fee report.
The Committee will discuss several reports, including: OPD Federal Task Force Annual Reports, the Police Staffing report and the Public Safety portion of the General Plan.
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