Oakland police stung by new criticism

http://www.insidebayarea.com/bay-area-news/ci_21194900/oakland-police-stung-by-new-criticism

The federal monitor overseeing Oakland's police department questioned the force's willingness to reform itself and raised concerns over photos posted on a bulletin board at police headquarters of a federal judge and elected official doctored "in a manner ... found to be racist."

"The defacing in a racially offensive manner of the photographs of public officials -- or for that matter anyone -- in the Police Administration Building strikes at the heart of the (reform effort)," wrote the Monitor Robert Warshaw in a report released Monday.

Sources told this paper that the doctored photos were of Mayor Jean Quan and Thelton Henderson, the U.S. District Court judge, who later this year could determine whether to place the department under federal control.

Overall, Warshaw found that police did make slight progress over the first three months of this year implementing court-ordered reforms instituted nearly a decade ago to bring the department up to par with national standards.

But the progress was offset not only by the photos, but by the findings of a damning external investigation into the department's handling of Occupy Oakland and additional concerns about its handling of officer-involved shootings.

Warshaw, a former U.S. deputy drug czar, said documentation of police work and adequate supervision from top officers remained issues. He also cautioned department brass that real reform involves more than "checking off compliance (goals) with predetermined tasks."