Attorneys request major changes in Oakland Police Department

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oakland/ci_21703042/attorneys-request-major-changes-oakland-police-department

Two prominent civil rights lawyers asked a federal judge Thursday to install a receiver over Oakland's police department with absolute authority to force through still unmet court-ordered reforms and potentially the power to help pick the next chief.

In a much-anticipated 57-page motion, attorneys John Burris and Jim Chanin argued that nearly 10 years after agreeing to judicial monitoring, Oakland's police department remains incapable of policing itself on several fronts -- including conducting thorough Internal Affairs investigations, tracking the actions of its officers and preventing racial profiling.

Without a receiver to ensure compliance, they wrote, Oakland residents, especially minorities, would face "continued civil rights violations, loss of life and injury."

U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson has scheduled a hearing on the motion for Dec. 13.