Federal jury sides with ousted Oakland police chief who brought whistleblower suit against city
A federal jury determined today that Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick was wrongfully fired by the city’s police commission and mayor two years ago.
A spokesperson for Mayor Libby Schaaf referred a request for comment on the verdict to the city attorney’s office, which did not immediately respond. During the trial, Kirkpatrick testified the commission resented her for calling out some of its members for behavior she characterized as corrupt and inappropriate.
Schaaf recalled how at a 2019 hearing before the federal judge overseeing the reform efforts, Kirkpatrick became “defensive” and seemed to be in “denial” when it was suggested the department was slipping behind in achieving required reform measures.“She was not the kind of leader we were going to need to take us out of the ,” former commission chair Regina Jackson testified.