Oakland PD has a history of "mistakes" that end up making things all the worse for the people is our fair city. On the technological front it is no different. A recent report from the city auditor showed that the police department spent about $2 million dollars on equipment that it never used, mostly because it "didn't work."
-- The Police Department purchased a $1.2 million camera system in the 2007-08 fiscal year for patrol cars to capture officer interaction with citizens. But the system didn't work as expected, and the vendor went out of business.
-- The Police Department spent at least $81,866 on E-Citation, a system that automated officer citations and helped track racial-profiling data. But the system didn't work, and the company went out of business before it could be used.
-- The city spent at least $65,000 on Evalis, a personnel-management system that helps identify at-risk behavior by officers. But the system was never used because more components were needed and the vendor went out of business.
Note that each of these systems, which the department spent more than $1.3 million on, was meant to track officers and stop further abuses. Of course, it could be one giant coincidence that not one of the technologies purchased to monitor the department worked. Given the history of the department I find that a a rather unconvincing excuse. Add to that the statement from City Administrator Santana that this wouldn't affect reform, which I'm hesitant to label as anything but a complete lie given the actions of the federal overseer to move the PD closer to receivership. The police department cannot police itself, this much is clear. Whether it's incompetence or intentional screw ups, the Oakland PD continues to thwart any attempt at reform.