Oakland Public Safety Committee Meeting - January 13, 2026

The Public Safety Committee of the Oakland City Council met on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at 1:34 PM. Chair Wong presided with Councilmembers Brown, Fyfe, and Houston present. The committee approved minutes, set the schedule of outstanding items, and discussed two major resolutions: one authorizing OPD to provide tactical support for Super Bowl 60 and FIFA World Cup events, and another authorizing a software agreement for fire and medical dispatch. All items were approved with 4–0 votes.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Sada Olabala spoke on multiple items: She requested more detail on public safety grant components (training, cognitive behavior theory) and ceasefire evaluation metrics; raised concerns about background checks for police commission appointees and lack of reporting on officer-involved shootings; questioned OPD staffing risks for out-of-town deployments and the ethics of supporting FIFA after its award to Trump; and noted potential conflicts between OPD general orders and off-duty deployments to Santa Clara.
• Blair Beekman advocated for minimal surveillance technology, urged open dialogue on ALPR vendor selection, and cautioned about law enforcement aftereffects of large events.
• Rajni Mandal (District 4) raised practical concerns: Skelly hearing backlog (46 cases, 64 officers, 18 hearing officers) and urged clear reporting on discipline stages; questioned OPD's ability to maintain patrol coverage when 25 officers are deployed elsewhere given current staffing of ~500 sworn vs. 680 authorized; noted the asymmetry of NSA oversight when OPD assists other jurisdictions; and sought transparency on dispatch technology approvals across departments.
• Millie Cleveland (District 4) called for a formal evaluation of the MACRO program (operating three years without evaluation) and requested OPD reports on ICE interactions in Oakland.

Discussion Items

• Item 1: Approval of Draft Minutes (December 9, 2025) – Approved 4–0 after public comment.
• Item 2: Determination of Scheduled Outstanding Committee Items – Accepted as presented 4–0. Chair Wong noted leadership changes (Joe DeVries moved to Animal Services) may delay a previously discussed MACRO special session.
• Item 3: MOU with Santa Clara for Super Bowl 60 and FIFA World Cup Support (Resolution) – Staff (Captain Perez Angeles and Deputy Chief Johnson) explained that 25 volunteer, off-duty tactical officers would be deployed on their regular days off, reimbursed by Santa Clara, with no impact on on-duty staffing. Emergency Operations Center would be activated, and Alameda County Sheriff would provide mutual aid if needed. Councilmember Brown introduced an amendment stating deployment shall not reduce on-duty staffing below OPD's established operational baseline. Councilmember Wong proposed a further amendment to also cover any additional needs arising during the period, but it was not adopted after Deputy Chief Johnson confirmed priority would remain on Oakland. The resolution was forwarded to City Council with Brown's amendment (4–0).
• Item 4: Software Agreement with Priority Dispatch Corp. for Fire/Medical Dispatch (Resolution) – Staff (Dave Eberle) reported that the new Fire Pro QA module would allow similar triage for fire calls, complementing the existing medical dispatch system. The fire dispatch center recently achieved its sixth ACE accreditation. The resolution authorized up to $150,000 for a three-year agreement, plus $233,030 to pay outstanding invoices from FY2022–2025, and waiver of competitive bidding. Public comment questioned the contract start date (October 2025) with no prior contract, and asked about process consistency across departments. The item was forwarded to City Council (4–0).
• Open Forum – Sada Olabala criticized the Rules Committee's rejection of a police commission nominee due to lack of constitutional policing knowledge and disputed claims about commission infighting. Rajni Mandal raised concerns about CIPRA case volumes not meeting NSA Task 2 (85% within 180 days) and urged regular public reporting. Blair Beekman called for better procedural review of ALPR decisions and slowing down rushed agenda items. Councilmember Fyfe expressed concerns about legal compliance in the police commission appointment process.

Key Outcomes

• Item 1: Approved minutes 4–0.
• Item 2: Accepted schedule of outstanding items 4–0.
• Item 3: Resolution forwarded to City Council as amended (adding clause: deployment shall not reduce on-duty staffing below OPD's established operational baseline). Vote 4–0. Amendment by Wong (covering any additional needs) not adopted.
• Item 4: Resolution forwarded to City Council 4–0.
• All items will appear on the January 20, 2026 City Council consent agenda (except Item 1 which was approved directly).
• Meeting adjourned after open forum.