Page 19 - IAV Digital Magazine #428

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Oakland Recruiting Ex-cons To Oversee Cops
By Matier & Ross
Former cops need not apply, but former inmates are being encouraged by the city of Oakland to apply for slots on the city’s new police commission.
A notice recently posted on the city’s website for would-be commissioners says, “Must be an Oakland resident. Must be at least 18 years old. Formerly incarcerated individ- uals encouraged to apply.”
Barry Donelan, head of the Oakland Police Officers Association, said recruiting ex-cons to help select the chief and discipline offi- cers for misconduct was “extremely dis- tasteful.
And what really
bugs the cops is that the voter- approved measure creating the com- mission bars current and former Oakland cops from serving, as well as police union employees.
Selection panel member Tal Klement, who works as a deputy public defender in San Francisco, said the ballot measure’s backers thought it was important to consider ex-cons.
He said encouraging former convicts to apply to oversee the police was in keep- ing with the spirit of Measure LL, the ini- tiative that created the oversight com- mission.
“Part of the measure itself said they were looking for people who had experi- enced police con-
tact, and obviously if you are formally incarcerated, you have experienced police conduct and potential misconduct as well,” Klement said.
The nine commis- sion members and two alternates will be selected by the mayor and the eight- member civilian selection panel. At least one of the picks must be a retired judge or lawyer with trial experience in crimi- nal law or police misconduct.
The deadline for applications is June 30.
City Council President Larry Reid said the invitation for former cons to apply was news to him. But he added, “We’ll probably wind up with one.”
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