Judge Contemplates unprecedented takeover of Oakland Police Force

[libertyjam]

Federal Judge Contemplates unprecedented takeover of Oakland Police Force, Decades long and systemic abuse by police on citizenry in a violent city has judge looking at upping the ante to reign in a rogue department that previous reforms have not quelled.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/09/us-usa-california-judge-idUSBRE8280CS20120309
Reuters


Judge sets stage to take over Oakland's troubled cops

After weeks of raucous street demonstrations, Oakland city leaders finally decided one chilly morning last fall to remove a downtown campsite that had become a national symbol of the Occupy movement. Protesters made makeshift gas masks and braced for a fight with the much-maligned Oakland Police Department.

But police cleared the camp without incident. A middle-aged white woman facing the brawny police cordon gave her reason for the calm on a placard she carried: "Judge Thelton Henderson is watching."

A veteran federal judge, Henderson has been struggling for nearly 10 years to implement police reforms in the gritty industrial city on California's San Francisco Bay.

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[Philosophy_of_Politics]

Uh oh.

[libertyjam]

The meat of the story:


At the end of January, Henderson increased Warshaw's authority, allowing the monitor to petition the court to countermand individual orders of Oakland's new police chief, Howard Jordan. But the judge held back from taking over day-to-day operations of the department, writing that he hoped "these intermediate measures will be sufficient."

During the interview a few weeks later, he added that he would not hesitate to install a receiver if the city did not improve. Henderson declined to reveal whether he thought such an appointment was likely.

There is no precedent in recent memory for a federal judge to take over a major police department, though plaintiff lawyers argue that Henderson's own takeover of the state prison health system in 2005 shows he has the authority to do it.

Robert Weisberg, a professor at Stanford Law School, said that by first taking the less drastic route and increasing Warshaw's authority, Henderson is protecting an Oakland police takeover from getting thrown out on appeal.

SOUTHERN EXPOSURE

Henderson's overriding objective is to change the culture of the department, of which discipline is just one part. "It ain't just, say, 'Change your culture or I'm going to put you in jail,'" he said, adding: "It's very complex. They didn't teach me that in judge's school. I have to learn it."

There should be other articles out about it.