After 23 years, a district judge has released the Oakland police department (OPD) from federal oversight, marking the end of the longest arrangement of this kind in US history.
In the early 2000s, a group of police officers known as the “riders” were exposed for offenses like planting evidence, falsifying reports and using excessive force against primarily young Black men. These actions led victims to file more than 100 civil lawsuits against the department. In 2003, as a part of the settlement of these cases, the OPD was put on a federal court-ordered reform program.
