Oakland pays $900,000 to cop consultants (to avoid federal takeover of police)
Source: SF Chronicle
The city of Oakland has agreed to pay $917,400 to nine outside contractors so far this year in a bid to comply with court-ordered Police Department reforms and avoid a federal takeover of the force, according to records released Friday.
The city is spending nearly all of the money - $775,000 - on investigations into whether officers should be disciplined for their actions during clashes with Occupy Oakland protesters.
The use of outside vendors, and its high cost, have been questioned by a federal judge and an independent court-appointed monitor overseeing the reforms in Oakland. U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson had ordered the city to detail its use of consultants by Friday.
City officials have said they had no choice but to seek outside help with the Occupy-related disciplinary cases, given the scores of complaints - many from people who said they were offended by images shown in media reports.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-pays-900-000-to-cop-consultants-3884713.php
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