Oakland “Welcomes” Consultant's Critical Report

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said on Thursday that she welcomes a  consultant's report that calls for the city's police department to have a  more district-based structure so that officers can respond more effectively to serious crimes.

The report by a group of police experts headed by William Bratton,  who has run police departments in New York City, Los Angeles and Boston,  found that in the past, captains and other field managers in Oakland weren't  held accountable for their knowledge of crime in designated districts.

It also states, "there was no sense of coordination, information  sharing or support from the centralized criminal investigation division."

NBC Bay Area received a copy of the Bratton Group report late Wednesday. One part of the report reads: "Effectively burglaries are not investigated in the city of Oakland with only one part time investigator assigned to 10,000 burglaries last year."

Oakland acting Police Chief Anthony Toribio - who took over as chief as of Wednesday - said, "We will  implement the recommendations very quickly."
"The report is very critical of the Police Department in several  areas but we welcome the criticism because we want to get better," Toribio  said.

Toribio became acting chief when Police Chief Howard Jordan  announced abruptly on Wednesday that he is retiring for medical reasons,  effective immediately.

Former Hartford, Conn., Police Chief Patrick Harnett, who also  served with the New York City Police Department under Bratton and is a member  of Bratton's consulting group, said the report recommends that Oakland shift  to a neighborhood policing plan, with the city divided into five districts,  each commanded by a captain.

Harnett said district captains would take responsibility for crime  in their areas and be held accountable for designing and directing  crime-fighting strategies.

Jeff Shuttleworth from Bay City News contributed to this report.

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