Oakland ad hoc presses to finalize police wellness policies, seek training funds

Members of a Police Commission ad hoc group on wellness discussed next steps to finalize two Oakland Police Department policies, reestablish a wellness advisory board and secure training funds, saying drafts will be circulated for comment and the group will reconvene soon.

The Committee member said the ad hoc should provide recommendations to the full commission after reviewing draft language and asked the Agency official to share the documents before the next meeting. The Agency official confirmed they would "clean it up a little bit and send it to you this week," and noted they will forward the updated peer-support/critical-incident policy (B-17) to Chief Osmus for legal review before it goes to the police commission.

Why it matters: the ad hoc is overseeing two policy efforts—an update to the peer support/critical-incident policy and development of a new health-and-wellness policy—that affect training, incident response and employee wellbeing across the department. Members emphasized the timeline for review and the importance of retaining momentum during a forthcoming change in the department representative role.

The Agency official described work already done on the B-17 update, saying subject-matter experts in peer support and a technical writer revised the language and that "once it gets through the process of, you know, is the wording legal, you know, all of that, then it goes to the police commission." They also characterized the new health-and-wellness policy as being developed "kinda from scratch" and proposed the ad hoc conduct initial review so the department and committee can iterate concurrently.

On staffing and succession, the Agency official confirmed an upcoming departure from their current OPD role "this Friday," and urged the group to push to identify a replacement so the ad hoc does not lose momentum. The Committee member said the ad hoc could pause full activity until a new department representative is in place but recommended at least one transitional meeting to hand off context.

Training and funding were a central topic. The participants discussed the 7-20 wellness project (described as coordinated through POST and managed in part by the University of San Diego) as a model for data-driven wellness plans and shared training for coordinators. The Agency official cited a one-time BSCC-related statewide allocation of $50,000,000 for health and wellness and said participation in POST programs has helped agencies access funding.

Budget specifics discussed included a roughly $10,000 allocation set aside for training and an operational constraint that work above $5,000 requires a formal contract, which can slow procurement. The Agency official said they had applied for a Firehouse Subs grant (portal opens on the 10th) that, if awarded, could sponsor training; they noted "almost 30 people waiting for training" and high demand for courses.

On governance, the Agency official summarized a recent meeting to reestablish a wellness advisory board: they invited about 15 people (10–11 attended), reviewed the strategic plan, and stressed including union representation from both professional staff and sworn unions. The meeting was described as informational with the stated goal of reestablishing the advisory board subject to DC Osmus's final decisions about point persons and structure.

Next steps: the Agency official said they will send the revised B-17 draft and the rough new policy to the ad hoc for comment; the Committee member said they would summarize the memo at the next police commission meeting and the ad hoc agreed to reconvene in about two weeks. The Agency official estimated a usable working document for the new health-and-wellness policy in roughly six weeks (three meetings) before routing to OPD for internal processing.

Quotes used in this article are attributed to participants using role labels in the transcript: the Committee member and the Agency official.