Oakland city council rejects reappointment of 2 police commissioners

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland City Council on Tuesday rejected the reappointment of two members of the city’s civilian police commission.

That's despite more than 650 residents sending emails urging the council to reinstate Omar Farmer and Ricardo Garcia-Acosta. The council had already rejected their reappointments in October, citing concerns about the small number of applicants for vacant positions on the commission.

Both Farmer and Garcia-Acosta are continuing to serve in the meantime.

Farmer spoke during the meeting, saying he supports both the police and civilian oversight. He described himself as an Iraq veteran with law enforcement experience in the military and said he believes in law and order, justice and transparency.

City staff said they have since received 13 additional applications as the selection panel increases outreach for the seven-member, volunteer commission. Some council members expressed concern that those applicants had not yet been interviewed.

Councilmember Janani Ramachandran said the city needs to respond to qualified applicants with relevant life experience and demonstrate a genuine effort to recruit commissioners.

"That's the thing we need to do," she said. "Show that we're actually trying to recruit." 

The search for new commissioners comes as the city works to select a new police chief following the departure of Chief Floyd Mitchell in December. Some have suggested an adversarial relationship with the police commission contributed to his departure.