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Agenda Item
6 26-0069 Subject: Selection Panel Nominations For Police Commissioner Appointments
From: Office Of The City Administrator
Recommendation: Adopt A Resolution Accepting The Police Commission Selection Panel's Slate Of Two Commissioners, Ricardo Garcia-Acosta And Omar Farmer, To Serve On The Oakland Police Commission
I have been a resident of Oakland since 1978, and support the independence of a selection panel, plus I SUPPORT the two commissioners, Ricardo Garcia-Acosta and Omar Farmer, to serve on the Oakland Police Commission. I have known and worked with Omar Farmer for several years in his capacity of a neighborhood leader, and value greatly the skills and presence he brings to his work.
Please accept the Selection Panel's recommendation to reappoint Ricardo Garcia-Acosta and Omar Farmer to the Police Commission.
I was on the Selection Panel when they were first selected to be on the Police Commission. I was impressed with them then, and I have continued to be impressed with them as I have watched the work they have been doing.
The Selection Panel does not always recommend that an incumbent commissioner be reappointed. Selection Panel members keep track of what a commissioner does, and they solicit feedback from other commissioners -- about how effective the incumbent has been and what the incumbent is like to work with. Selection Panel members also re-interview the incumbent, asking for examples of what the incumbent has accomplished and what they plan to do if they are reappointed.
When the Selection Panel recommends reappointing an incumbent commissioner, it is a carefully considered decision.
Commissioners Farmer and Garcia-Acosta are dedicated to the work and willing to listen to alternate viewpoints. And they understand the mission of the Police Commission, which is to oversee OPD.
The Police Commission was created to address OPD's ongoing problems with misconduct -- from the Riders scandal 20 years ago to last year's scandals and cover-ups, which resulted in the entire senior leadership of OPD leaving while under investigation.
Commissioners Farmer and Garcia-Acosta are doing that work. Please let them continue.
This is a welcome opportunity to begin to reimagine Oakland's police commission, and steer it towards truly representing the policing needs of the citizens of Oakland. Of course I want -- and insist upon -- constitutional policing. But I also want SUFFICIENT policing, EFFECTIVE policing, EFFICIENT policing, EVIDENCE BASED policing, and VISIBLE policing. I would like a police commission that advocates forcefully for all of these things, rather than just redressing grievances (legitimate though they may be) of the past. I am asking you, the rules committee, to take this external step, because, in following their meetings, the current volunteers who have sought out positions on the commission have shown no ability, themselves, to work outside or their chosen silo. You are our elected representatives. Please give us a police commission that will set a positive, effective, and constitutional vision of public safety in Oakland -- a commission that will work with our police department to get us there. Thank you. D Berman, Oakland.
I have been a resident of Oakland since 1978, and support the independence of a selection panel, plus I SUPPORT the two commissioners, Ricardo Garcia-Acosta and Omar Farmer, to serve on the Oakland Police Commission. I have known and worked with Omar Farmer for several years in his capacity of a neighborhood leader, and value greatly the skills and presence he brings to his work.
Please accept the Selection Panel's recommendation to reappoint Ricardo Garcia-Acosta and Omar Farmer to the Police Commission.
I was on the Selection Panel when they were first selected to be on the Police Commission. I was impressed with them then, and I have continued to be impressed with them as I have watched the work they have been doing.
The Selection Panel does not always recommend that an incumbent commissioner be reappointed. Selection Panel members keep track of what a commissioner does, and they solicit feedback from other commissioners -- about how effective the incumbent has been and what the incumbent is like to work with. Selection Panel members also re-interview the incumbent, asking for examples of what the incumbent has accomplished and what they plan to do if they are reappointed.
When the Selection Panel recommends reappointing an incumbent commissioner, it is a carefully considered decision.
Commissioners Farmer and Garcia-Acosta are dedicated to the work and willing to listen to alternate viewpoints. And they understand the mission of the Police Commission, which is to oversee OPD.
The Police Commission was created to address OPD's ongoing problems with misconduct -- from the Riders scandal 20 years ago to last year's scandals and cover-ups, which resulted in the entire senior leadership of OPD leaving while under investigation.
Commissioners Farmer and Garcia-Acosta are doing that work. Please let them continue.
Thank you.
Lorelei Bosserman
This is a welcome opportunity to begin to reimagine Oakland's police commission, and steer it towards truly representing the policing needs of the citizens of Oakland. Of course I want -- and insist upon -- constitutional policing. But I also want SUFFICIENT policing, EFFECTIVE policing, EFFICIENT policing, EVIDENCE BASED policing, and VISIBLE policing. I would like a police commission that advocates forcefully for all of these things, rather than just redressing grievances (legitimate though they may be) of the past. I am asking you, the rules committee, to take this external step, because, in following their meetings, the current volunteers who have sought out positions on the commission have shown no ability, themselves, to work outside or their chosen silo. You are our elected representatives. Please give us a police commission that will set a positive, effective, and constitutional vision of public safety in Oakland -- a commission that will work with our police department to get us there. Thank you. D Berman, Oakland.