Risk Management Information

                 The  Overriding Costs of the Oakland Police Department

*     Police Overtime/Budget -- millions beyond the  millions already budgeted (see Stinnett column TRIB 10/20)
*     Cost of Settlement Agreement - over $11 million for plaintiffs and almost $5 million for the Court appointed Monitor team
*     Even before the Riders - OPD overspent their liability amount by almost $2 million
*     Even before the Criminal Trial, the four 'Riders' had already racked up almost a half-million dollars in law suits

Insult added to Injury

OPD has burdened the city with millions of dollars in excessive overtime expenses for well over five years, racked up tens of millions in misconduct payouts and the five year expenditure required to 'fix' the departments' ills. Faced with the possibility that they might be required to pay back 25% of what they overspent in payouts - about $420,000 (before the Riders), what does the police department do? They run to the "strong Mayor" and enlist his help in shutting down a system of financial responsibility (RMIP) that the City had adopted in 1998. What does the Finance Committee do? They allow the Mayor to strut in at the 11th hour with the 'miracle cure' which nobody in the public and even some on the Committee had never seen! Violating the Brown Act and the Sunshine Ordinance was no problem for the Mayor and the Committee. Anything to get the police out of a jam: anything to protect the OPD from having to reap the financial consequences of what they sowed.

And what was this 'miracle cure?' Face to face meetings between officers who receive complaints and their supervisors. Well - that's a powerful remedy, wouldn't you say? Much more likely to reduce law suits and huge payouts than OPD having to pay for a percentage of these settlements from their own departmental budget, right?  Of course, this is a provision of the "Riders" settlement agreement, which is, in effect, a Court Order. The City has no choice but to follow it if they don't want to wind up in jail! But that's what the Finance Committee thought was a better way to 'manage risk' and save taxpayer dollars, money  that might otherwise have been made available to fund library services, to keep City Hall open all five days a week, provide for vegetation management, services for seniors and youth, and all the other unmet needs of Oaklanders.

History:

1997:   PUEBLO (People United for a Better Oakland) brought a Risk Management Incentive Program (RMIP) to the City as a result of staggering police payouts in the previous several years.  This 'carrot-stick' approach, widely used in the private sector, provides financial incentives to reduce loss due to law suits by penalizing Departments who overspend and reward Departments who reduce loss. The Finance Committee formed a working group of City Staff and PUEBLO to work out implementation strategies.

1998:  Oakland City Council  voted unanimously to adopt this program, not only for the OPD, but directed Staff to apply to OFD, PWA and OPR - the 'Big 4' in liability payouts.

1999-2000:  Personnel Department issued the reports, indicating payouts from the 'Big 4' and how much they owed, or were owed, by the General Fund.

2001: Budget Director Doris Blanchard asked the Council to 'forgive' the monies owed as a result of Sept. 11th tragedy that required additional security.

2002: No report issued.

2003: PUEBLO puts in a Public Records Request Act to find out when and how much money was transferred in accordance with RMIP since 1999.  Staff had argued that the program should be terminated because it had not proven effective in managing risk. It was revealed that NO MONIES HAD EVER BEEN TRANSFERRED, AS REQUIRED BY RMIP.

Summation: The City has been perpetrating a fraud on the citizens of Oakland, leading us to believe that this program, intended to reduce the wasting of taxpayer money, was in effect, when, in reality, it was ignored. Now that the secret is out, they want to officially 'kill it' although they never even gave it a chance to succeed.

" Why?" is the real question. Obviously, the Mayor, City Staff, and now the Council, will do anything and everything to protect the interests of the Oakland Police Department. They have put the 'special interest' of this powerful force in Oakland politics ahead of the needs of the public. Of course public safety is a concern, but we have spent more money each year on police services and yet we have more violence each year. What benefit are we receiving for these tens of millions of dollars when our streets are still not safe?

It's time to stand up to the 'powers that be' and demand accountability --- not just words - but deeds. Let the police pay, at least, to a small degree, what they have cost us in misconduct cases. Maybe that will help them find a more professional way to discharge their duties. Whatever happened to the expression, "No pain, no gain?"