Oakland’s police watchdog board is losing a critical staff member.
Michelle Phillips, hired by the Oakland Police Commission roughly two years ago to serve as its first-ever inspector general, has been nominated by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey to lead that city’s Department of Civil Rights.
If Phillips’ nomination is approved by the Minneapolis City Council, she will oversee a department of 46 employees charged with investigating discriminatory practices in the city, according to a press release.
Phillips, who did not respond to requests for comment, told Minneapolis officials she was honored by the opportunity and is “dedicated to working with all stakeholders as we move towards a more just and equitable Minneapolis.”
As Oakland’s inspector general, Phillips monitors OPD’s compliance with policies, procedures, and laws, which includes how the department investigates and disciplines officers for misconduct. The Inspector General is also responsible for analyzing OPD’s use of force and racial profiling, evaluating police training systems, and reviewing the work of the Community Police Review Agency, a branch of the commission that investigates police misconduct complaints.
The Inspector General makes recommendations to the Police Commission—Oakland’s civilian volunteer oversight body—which then puts them into action. The commission’s overarching goal is to oversee OPD. The IG is a trained investigator and auditor—unlike the civilian commissioners—and her input is vital to this mission.
Phillips has yet to announce her potential departure and the news has caught some community members by surprise.
Rashidah Grinage, a member of the Coalition for Police Accountability, said Phillips has done “phenomenal work” for the commission during her relatively brief tenure. Grinage also praised Phillips for helping educate community members about the purpose of the commission, and for making her office’s reports easily accessible online.
In recent months Phillips has urged OPD to switch over to a more reliable system for reporting crime data. She also gave the department recommendations to reduce instances of racial profiling and bias-based policing practices. And Phillips identified a problematic relationship between the Community Police Review Agency and the police department’s Internal Affairs Division that threatened to erode the independence of each office’s investigative process.
Minneapolis officials have praised Phillips at public meetings, but some also said they were perplexed why she would want to work for a troubled department.
Minneapolis fired its last Civil Rights director, Alberder Gillespie, after officials determed that she posed “an immediate threat” to the city’s efforts to comply with court-approved police reforms that were established after a police officer murdered resident George Floyd in 2020. Specifically, Gillespie allegedly failed to handle police misconduct complaints quickly.
“You’re gonna encounter a lot of difficulties in this job,” Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison said at a public hearing last week, according to the StarTribune. “This has become, in the last couple of years, known as a difficult place to get work done.”
Speaking to officials last week, Phillips described her passion for public service and said she wants to help Minneapolis’ leadership “restore and rebuild trust and stability, and reimagine a safe, economically sustainable, thriving and overall healthy city.”
Phillips is leaving Oakland after a challenging year for the Oakland Police Commission. The commission was roiled by internal conflict for months after Mayor Sheng Thao fired Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong in February 2023. Things reached a boil last fall when three commissioners boycotted meetings to prevent the commission’s then-chair, Tyfahra Milele, from holding meetings and making major decisions. The mayor then rejected the first slate of police chief candidates sent to her by the commission, one of whom included Armstrong.
The Police Commission, which is currently seeking volunteer members, will be tasked with appointing Phillips’ replacement. Chair Marsha Peterson did not respond to requests for comment.
Councilmember Kevin Jenkins recently proposed a ballot measure that would dramatically change the composition and operations of the police commission. This would include having the City Auditor appoint the commission’s Inspector General, giving it greater independence from the commission.
