Oakland Public Safety Committee Meeting - May 12, 2026
Oakland Public Safety Committee Meeting - May 12, 2026
The Oakland Public Safety Committee convened on May 12, 2026, at 6:03 PM to consider eight agenda items, including consent calendar items, a grant for community violence prevention activations, equipment contracts for the fire department, a proposed internship MOU with USC, and biannual reports from OPD and CPRA. The meeting included significant public comment and deliberation, resulting in several items being forwarded to the full council and one item being continued for additional information.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1: Approval of draft minutes from the committee meetings of March 24 and April 21, 2026. Approved unanimously (4-0).
- Item 2: Determination of schedule of outstanding committee items. Approved as presented (4-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Asada Olabala (multiple items) raised concerns about violence prevention strategies, the need for reports on youth intervention programs, racial profiling data on traffic stops, the qualifications of faith-based outreach groups, and the language in vendor contracts regarding “long-standing relationships.”
- Rajni Mandal (District 4) argued that civilian oversight should be clearly separated from federal compliance (NSA) administration, noting that the Police Commission is not a named party in the NSA and warning against blurring lines between oversight and management.
- Blair Beekman expressed support for community-based approaches like block parent programs and questioned whether the ceasefire lifeline strategy incorporates local neighborhood leadership.
- Ann Shanks criticized CPRA’s history on excessive force and racial profiling cases, citing a lack of sustained findings and insufficient communication with complainants.
- Millie Cleveland emphasized the need for resources for CPRA, noted delays in implementing a mediation program, and urged the committee to focus on transferring internal affairs functions to CPRA.
- David Boatwright (via Zoom) humorously asked whether practicum instructors exist in OPD or would need to be hired.
- Other speakers (including Jenks and unnamed) commented on the USC internship program, the need for thorough oversight, and the importance of civilianization.
Discussion Items
- Item 3 (Grant to Community Initiatives for Ceasefire Lifeline Activations): Deputy Chief Jennifer Lynch (DVP) presented a $100,000 grant to Community Initiatives as fiscal sponsor for Town Nights, funding reactive community activations (food giveaways, healing events) in neighborhoods experiencing gun violence or high conflict. Violence interrupters would provide physical presence and connection to services. Councilmembers discussed event frequency (estimated 20–30 over the year), geographic focus (West and East Oakland), and safety concerns about events themselves. Councilmember Houston highlighted deeper economic issues driving violence.
- Item 4 (Bauer Compressors Contract): Deputy Chief Damon Simmons (OFD) requested approval of a five-year, $1 million contract for servicing self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and turnout gear extractors, citing OSHA mandates and a healthy long-term relationship with the vendor. Councilmember Fife noted the vendor’s market share and lack of controversy.
- Item 5 (Ellen Curtis and Sons Fire Equipment Contract): Deputy Chief Simmons presented a five-year, $2.5 million contract for specialized firefighting equipment (wildland, structural, aviation). He committed to identifying local Oakland businesses for non-specialized equipment. Councilmember Houston objected to “not returning to council” clauses and requested future updates on local sourcing.
- Item 6 (USC School of Social Work MOU): Councilmember Wong introduced a five-year MOU for graduate social work interns to be embedded in OPD, focusing initially on the Special Victims Section. Interns (16–24 hours/week) would assist with crisis response, resource navigation, and grant support. Numerous councilmembers expressed support but requested more details on implementation, supervision, insurance, and legal liability. The item was continued to the next meeting (May 26) to allow time for OPD to provide a draft curriculum and answer legal questions.
- Item 7 (OPD Biannual Crime Report): Deputy Chiefs Yue and Rojas presented six-month crime data (Oct 2025–Mar 2026). Overall part-one crimes down 21% citywide; homicides down 28% (36 to 26), robberies down 43%. Area-specific slides showed reductions. Councilmember Five questioned how traffic fatalities are categorized and asked for documentation on how Flock cameras contributed to crime reductions. Councilmember Wong requested inclusion of part-two crimes for future reports.
- Item 8 (CPRA Biannual Report): Director Lawson presented mandated statistics: 1,019 complaints received in 2025, 637 completed investigations, 20 sustained allegations against 14 sworn officers. He acknowledged lack of demographic and district data due to inadequate case management systems; a new system is being procured. Councilmembers discussed staffing (9 of 17 positions filled), pay scale challenges, and the need for a task force to transition IAD functions to CPRA.
Key Outcomes
- Item 3: Motion by Councilmember Brown, seconded by Councilmember Fife, to approve staff recommendations and forward to the May 19 City Council agenda on consent. Passed 4-0.
- Item 4: Motion by Councilmember Houston, seconded by Councilmember Brown, to approve and forward. Passed 4-0.
- Item 5: Motion by Councilmember Fife, seconded by Chair Wong, to approve and forward with note to return with local business sourcing update. Passed 4-0.
- Item 6: Motion by Councilmember Houston to continue the item to the next Public Safety Committee meeting (May 26, 2026) with a request for a draft curriculum and answers to legal questions. Passed 3-1 (Chair Wong dissenting).
- Item 7: Motion by Councilmember Houston, seconded by Chair Wong, to receive and file the informational report. Passed 3-0-1 (Councilmember Brown excused).
- Item 8: Motion by Chair Wong, seconded by Councilmember Houston, to receive and file with a request for future reports to include IAD-CPRA discrepancy data and year-over-year trends. Passed 3-0-1 (Councilmember Brown excused).
Meeting Transcript
Okay. Okay. Okay. Good evening and welcome to the public safety committee meeting of Tuesday, May twelfth, two thousand twenty-six. The time is now six. Oh three PM, and this meeting may come to order. Before taking roll, I will provide instructions on how to submit speaker cards for items on this agenda. If you're here with us in chamber and would like to submit a speaker card, please fill one out and turn one into myself or a clerk representative no later than ten minutes after the start of this meeting or before the item is read into record. Registering to speak via Zoom is now due twenty-four hours prior to the start of this meeting. We'll now proceed with taking roll. Council Member Brown, who is noticed on the agenda for remote participation. Council member five present. Yeah, let's move forward. Okay, reading in item one, approval of the draft minutes from the committee meetings of March twenty-fourth and april twenty-first, two thousand twenty-six. There are no public speakers on this item. Okay. I'll move approval. Do I got a second? All right. Thank you. That's a motion made by Council Member Pipe, seconded by Council Member Houston to accept the draft minutes from the committee committee meetings of March twenty fourth and April twenty-first, 2026. On roll council members Brown. Aye. Five. Aye. Easton? And Chair Wong. Aye. Thank you. Item number one passes with four eyes to accept the draft minutes. Item two, determination of schedule of outstanding committee items, and there are two speakers that signed up to speak. We'll go to public comment. Calling in the names that sign up to speak on item number two. Asada Olabala and Rajni Mandal. I'm concerned about anything that has to do with how we're doing intervention with our youth related to public safety. Having said that, we do have a uh violence prevention interrupter program that goes into the schools to deal with uh challenges around violence. We need to have a report on that and how it's working. We also have uh our police officers and the stop data that they're required to do. They are required to implement truancy stops, and we haven't got any kind of report on that element of our children being out of school when they're supposed to be in school. I also am concerned about the last uh allowing of $250,000 for faith in action to do outreach to the ceasefire community, or what can be said it can be considered gangs or individuals. I'm not sure how y'all doing it now, but I do not see how that qualification was met. You have to have a skill set to do outreach to individuals who are engaged in criminal activity. Now anybody can't pick up the phone and say come to a meeting. You have to have a strategy on how to do that, and I don't know if faith in action has that strategy in place. I'm also uh challenged by the responsibility of officers to make a decision on citation or warning, and if that may have an element of racial profiling, the data does it exist when you make a stop, the citation, the warning that was given by race. Lastly, uh on public uh communication, identification. Sometimes you identify Rajni Mandel District 4. This is for the NSA item future agenda item. Uh, there's a growing narrative that reforming Oakland's civilian oversight structure could somehow threaten compliance with the NSA, federal oversight. But the commission, the police commission's own CMC statement actually highlights why we need to clearly separate civilian oversight from federal compliance administration.
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