Judge ends federal oversight of Oakland police department after 23 years

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Judge ends federal oversight of Oakland police department after 23 years

2026-09-30 08:45 Last Updated At：08:50

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday ended federal monitoring of the Oakland Police Department after 23 years, capping the longest-running oversight of a police department in U.S. history.

“I'm particularly grateful to the men and women of the Oakland Police Department ... for achieving substantial compliance,” San Francisco judge William Orrick said. “May it ever be thus.”

The police department made national news in 2000 after a rookie officer came forward to report abuse of power by a group of officers known as the Oakland “Riders.” The four officers were charged with making false arrests, planting evidence, using excessive force, falsifying police reports and assaulting people in west Oakland, a predominantly Black area. Three of the officers were acquitted after two separate juries deadlocked on most of the charges. The fourth officer is a fugitive and is believed to have fled the country.

The case resulted in the department coming under federal oversight in 2003 and being required to enact dozens of reform measures and report its progress to an outside monitor and a federal judge. That same year, the city of about 400,000 people settled a class-action police abuse lawsuit involving 119 people for $11 million.

The department’s federal monitor in May issued a report saying that the Oakland Police Department had complied with all 51 court-mandated reforms stemming from the 2000 police brutality and corruption case.

“This is the first time in 23 years that OPD has achieved each of the 51 tasks in the (settlement agreement.) No one can say, ‘mission accomplished.’ But I do congratulate the city and OPD for getting this far,” Orrick said during a hearing in May.

Some civil rights organizations had asked Orrick to delay releasing the department from federal oversight for at least a year after court-appointed monitor Robert S. Warshaw said in a progress report this month that he had found that the Oakland Police Department had again fallen below the threshold for timely investigations into severe misconduct violations.

But Orrick noted Tuesday it was important for the court to “get out of the way.”

While plaintiff attorneys at the hearing noted the department fell short of completing 85% of its serious misconduct investigations within 180 days, they did not oppose the ending of federal oversight.

Oakland Police Chief James Beere acknowledged those cases to the judge, explaining that many were complex officer-involved shootings.

“We did slip a little bit,” said Beere, KTVU reported. “But we own our mistakes.”

Civil rights attorney John Burris reflected on the progress made over the past two decades and the importance of continuing that progress under the leadership of the city of Oakland.

“For me, it’s not today that’s important, it’s tomorrow … whether or not what’s been put in place here stands the test of time,” Burris said.

Hurricane Polo's remnants bringing more rains to flood-struck US Southwest

PHOENIX (AP) — Hurricane Polo smashed into the western coast of Mexico on Tuesday, swamping coastal areas and toppling trees before the storm’s remnants headed toward the U.S. Southwest, where heavy rains soaked the region and residents in small New Mexico towns were evacuated over concerns about a dam failing.

Polo struck the Mexican state of Baja California Sur in the morning with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph). It crossed the Gulf of California and weakened to become a tropical storm as it moved inland to the northeast, and its remnants were expected to reach the U.S. by Tuesday night.

North-central New Mexico, including Albuquerque and Santa Fe, could feel the brunt of the severe weather, with as much as 3 to 4 inches (about 8 to 10 centimeters) of rain through Wednesday and possibly more, forecasters said.

That is after storms rolled through parts of the U.S. Southwest overnight Monday, saturating the ground, which can make flooding worse.

Bands of rain continued to sweep across the U.S. Southwest, causing desert rivers to surge and usually dry arroyos to rage with floodwater.

The potential failure of the dam in south central New Mexico prompted evacuations in three small communities with hundreds of residents along the Rio Grande. People in Rincon, Salem and Garfield were told to seek higher ground immediately “before conditions worsen.”

Nearly all of the region was under flood watches as the complex system of tropical weather — with Polo the main event — spread northeast from Mexico.

“Definitely looking at the chances for urban flooding,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Carter Greulich in Albuquerque. “Don’t drive through flooded roadways. Remain out of the arroyos, especially in our urban areas.”

A person stranded on top of a vehicle in floodwaters west of Phoenix was rescued Tuesday morning. Video taken by Arizona Fire and Medical Services showed a helicopter lowering a rescuer to a person clinging to their overturned car. And in Zion National Park, a helicopter was used to rescue three people who had been in Heaps Canyon and went to high ground when it began to flash flood.

North of Phoenix, a truck was swept away in a wash in the New River area. The driver got out safely, Maricopa County sheriff’s officials said.

The rocky, desert area typically gets less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain annually with little vegetation to soak it up, making flash flooding a perpetual risk.

Near Zion National Park in Utah, the East Fork of the Virgin River raged with chocolate floodwater seen carrying a shipping container downstream.

In the small town of Orderville, Utah, where flooding began Monday night, Sabrina Dubay was driving home when her partner called and told her to stay away.

“The river came in and swept around the entirety of our house,” Dubay said.

A camper, snowmobile trailer, and other items from Dubay’s yard were swept away by the river. Neighbors and friends arrived to dig a trench around the house as the water rose around their home.

“It was coming in through our front doors,” she said.

Flooding also was reported in southern New Mexico. An unusually soggy September across the region set the stage: When the ground is saturated, rainfall has nowhere to go but run off.

“Runoff is likely going to start much quicker and lead to those flooding impacts quicker,” Greulich said.

Forecasters said the flood risk would move into parts of the central U.S. beginning late Tuesday and into Wednesday. Starting late Wednesday, widespread heavy rain was expected to hit the Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio areas. Life-threatening flash flooding was possible, with low-lying areas especially vulnerable.

Parts of west Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa were under flood watch through Thursday, with some areas expecting up to 5 inches (13 centimeters) of rain.

Hurricane Polo pummeled Baja California Sur with powerful winds and rain as it made landfall.

After Polo passed over the small fishing town of Puerto San Carlos on the Baja California peninsula, residents waded among downed trees through ankle-high water that flooded some homes. Seeing their roughened community largely intact brought relief to those who had prepared for the worst.

Shopkeeper Elbia María Bachomo, 40, picked through furniture strewn through her home. She and her three children had gathered their clothes quickly and left for a shelter Monday as water began flooding into their home.

Her husband was out on the water fishing for sardines when Polo hit. Bachomo said he was fortunate to escape alive.

“I thought, ‘Oh no, what are we going to come back to? We will be left with nothing.’ But we were lucky,” she said.

Polo was expected to produce 6 to 12 inches (about 15 to 30 centimeters) of rain across parts of Baja California Sur.

About 700 people remained in shelters Tuesday. But they were expected to return to their homes, and no serious damage or deaths were immediately reported, according to authorities.

Meanwhile, the hurricane center reported Tropical Storm Rachel was moving parallel to Mexico’s coast early Tuesday. The storm was about 265 miles (425 kilometers) southwest of Lazaro Cardenos with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (105 kph). It was moving west-northwest at 13 mph (20 kph).

In the central Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Nolo remained a dangerous Category 3 hurricane on Tuesday as it edged away from Hawaii after drenching parts of the Big Island over the weekend. The hurricane was approaching Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, a marine conservation area.

Pacific storm activity has been above average this year. That's consistent with El Niño years.

Hill reported from Las Vegas, and Brown reported from Billings, Montana. Martin Silva Rey and Eduardo Verdugo in Puerto San Carlos, Mexico, Megan Janetsky in Mexico City, Julie Walker in New York, Mead Gruver in Fort Collins, Colorado, Mikella Schuettler in Phoenix, Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Eugene Garcia and Gregory Bull in Hilo, Hawaii, contributed to this report.