Oakland police could face federal takeover

AP via SFGate ^ | 1/25/12 | PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press

[SmithL]

Mayor Jean Quan vowed Wednesday to quickly reform the scandal-plagued Oakland Police Department after a frustrated judge threatened a federal takeover if it fails to quickly make good on changes agreed to nine years ago.

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson said he "remains in disbelief" that the department has failed to adopt the reforms.

Henderson's frustration with the pace of improvements was evident throughout a scathing five-page ruling issued Tuesday.

"This department finds itself woefully behind its peers around the state and nation," he wrote.

In his ruling, Henderson increased the oversight authority of a court-appointed monitor. Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan must now consult with the monitor before making important department decisions such as promoting and disciplining officers and changing policing policy and tactics.

Henderson ordered court hearings if city officials disagreed with the monitor's recommendations.

Quan and Police Chief Howard Jordan said a federal takeover wouldn't be necessary because Oakland's new leadership has made compliance with the settlement a priority.

[SmithL]

I guess Henderson got bored, now that he's finished with the state prisons.

[SmithL]

Henderson, Thelton Eugene

Born 1933 in Shreveport, LA

Federal Judicial Service:
Judge, U. S. District Court, Northern District of California
Nominated by Jimmy Carter on May 9, 1980, to a seat vacated by Cecil F. Poole; Confirmed by the Senate on June 26, 1980, and received commission on June 30, 1980. Served as chief judge, 1990-1997. Assumed senior status on November 28, 1998.

Education:
University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 1956
University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, J.D., 1962

Professional Career:
U.S. Army Corporal, 1956-1958
Attorney, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, 1962-1963
Private practice, Oakland, California, 1964-1966
Directing attorney, East Bayshore Neighborhood Legal Center, East Palo Alto, California, 1966-1969
Assistant dean, Stanford Law School, 1968-1977
Private practice, San Francisco, California, 1977-1980
Associate professor, Golden Gate University School of Law, 1978-1980

[bert]

Certified moonbat.

[El Cid]

Arrgh! Not that Thelton Henderson. I saw the last name, but when I saw the first I gagged. Was he the esteemed judge who squashed Proposition 187, or 209?
Judicial activists should be impeached. Their jobs are to interpret the Law vs. the Constitution, not to make up law at their whim...

[Nifster]

Crap not this idiot again. His previous decisions have made it so the prisons in California have had to release inmates who are down right scary and dangerous

[vette6387]

Thelton Henderson=Lawn Jockey Liberal