Oakland had been incorporated as a town by the state legislature in 1852, and with its rapid expansion, Carpentier felt the need to organize a city government with a police force to provide regular law enforcement.

By 1886, the department had installed telephone call boxes for foot patrolmen and purchased horse-drawn wagons for patrol, which, according to the Oakland Review, were the first such conveyances used by police in California.

Oakland PD was on the forefront of innovation under the leadership of Chief Adelbert Wilson (1906 to 1912) as it instituted advances in modern telephone communications, criminalistics, and auto and motorcycle transport.

Chief Wilson also instituted civil service status for police officers beginning in 1911, ending political patronage in the department.

The police department was not exempt, as plans for a new two-way radio system were delayed for a decade and the number of patrol cars was reduced.

As World War II approached, the city cooperated with the federal government on essential projects including the construction of the Oakland Army Base and the Naval Supply Center.

During the war, thousands of African Americans migrated to Oakland from the South to work in the shipyards and were later relegated to the ranks of the unemployed as the post-war boom declined.

With the closing of the neighborhood stations and continued staffing shortages, officers were less available for routine patrol and were often relegated to answering emergency calls for service.

By the late 1960s, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense had formed in Oakland and a series of public confrontations with the police garnered national attention.

In his book "Shadow of the Panther", African American author Hugh Pearson alleged that not long before his death at the hands of West Oakland cocaine dealer Anthony Robinson in 1989, Newton candidly admitted to willfully killing Officer Frey.

[9] The ensuing shootout lasted over 90 minutes as backup officers rushed to the scene and forced the ambushers to seek cover in the basement of a dilapidated row house near 25th and Union Streets.

The Police Administration Building was the scene of several bombings during this time, and the department formed its first SWAT team to counter increasingly heavily armed criminals.

His low key demeanor and insistence on strict adherence to law and departmental regulations proved a steadying influence on the department through this turbulent period.

Despite the decline of the Black Panther Party due to infighting and the defection to Cuba by Huey Newton to avoid prosecution for the murder of an 18-year-old prostitute,[11] new unrest emerged in the form of the S.L.A.

[12] Despite having been among the first California police departments to initiate integration in the ranks, by 1974, Oakland PD found controversy with a statistical imbalance in minority representation.

[2] With the emergence of the crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s, the rate of violence and murder reached new heights as various drug gangs battled to fill the power vacuum left when Felix Mitchell and rivals like Mickey Moore and other contemporaries were targeted by OPD Vice/Narcotics investigators and subsequently imprisoned.

[14] The department remained understaffed throughout this period, even as Oakland consistently ranked as one of the top ten most violent cities in the nation on a yearly basis.

[15] Establishment of specialized units tasked with interdicting street-level narcotics dealing and tracking and apprehending Part 1 offenders were successful in curtailing gang-related murders, but staffing shortages limited overall effectiveness.

This was undertaken in conjunction with an aggressive, proactive approach to street crime in a two-pronged attempt to engage the community and curtail violence.

Kirkpatrick's complaint outlined several allegations of misconduct by the commission, including commissioners seeking special treatment, and making unlawful attempts to obtain confidential personnel records, and harassing city staff.

The March 21, 2009, shootings of four Oakland police officers by a wanted rapist and parole violator marked the deadliest day for California law enforcement since the "Newhall Incident" in 1970.

The suspect fled to a nearby apartment where he armed himself with an assault rifle and ambushed an Oakland Police SWAT team as they attempted to arrest him, killing sergeants Erv Romans and Danial Sakai before he himself was shot to death by other officers.

A sterling silver seven-point star is affixed to the left breast above the pocket, each with a distinctive 3 digit enameled number and bearing the words "Police Officer, Oakland California".

[37] In 1991, the City of Oakland paid $42,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by rapper Tupac Shakur after officers allegedly beat him during a confrontation after stopping him for a traffic infraction.

The alleged leader of the Riders, Frank Vazquez, fled to Mexico shortly after his criminal indictment and remains a fugitive from justice.

[50] Occupier Scott Olsen was seriously injured during a melee when struck in the head by an object that some claim was a bean bag round or tear gas canister fired by an Oakland officer.

[58] As of August 10, 2016, the two African American officers who allegedly exchanged racist/inappropriate text messages were found to have violated department policy and as a result, received suspensions and mandatory retraining.

Of the three remaining officers, one pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of providing confidential police information to unauthorized recipients, one for failure to report misconduct, and one for engaging in a lewd act.

[65] In 1980, the Citizens' Police Review Board (CPRB) was established to handle complaints against OPD misconduct, fact finding, and advisory reports to the City Administrator.

In 2002, the City Council expanded the CPRB's responsibility to include all complaints against police officers, option to hold hearings, and ability to review confidential OPD records in private session.