So how far back does Oakland PD wrap sheet go for

No way to list every single incident in the Oakland police department’s long history of troubled community relations, especially since the records are not all that transparent or easily accessed by the media or the public.  While reading up on the subject, these few examples sort of jumped off the page as emblematic of the brutality, poor judgment, and abuse of power behaviors that have plagued them for more than 60 years. 

In 1946 after 400 Oakland police were brought in to break a picket line set up by WOMEN retail workers striking over wage disputes with Hastings and Kahn’s department stores, they beat and bullied people into submission, trying to clear the street protesters.   The backlash was swift and exact.  130,000 Oakland residents walked off their jobs, striking to protest the brutality, essentially shutting the city down for days on end.  For details: 

http://kalwnews.org/audio/2011/11/02/remembering-the-1946-oakland-general-strike_1423338.html

Two days after the MLK assassination, Oakland police ambushed a carload of Black Panther Party mourners, where a 1-½-hour shootout ensued, killing 17-year-old Bobby Hutton as he was trying to surrender, who was shot 12 times after stripping down to his underwear to prove he was unarmed.  President Lyndon Johnson condemned the killing and Hutton subsequently became a martyr for the greater civil rights cause.  This was the prelude to longstanding police harassment against black residents and political protesters that is still being played out today, documented here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/oct/26/oakland-police-department-black-community

In the late 90’s, The Rough Riders, a group of cops who were proud poster boys of the OPD who held themselves above the law, were exposed by a rookie fresh out of the acdemy, who blew the whistle on them for their systematic brutality, then promptly resigned.  Until then, the Rough Riders had been praised by the OPD and were considered mentors for new recruits to emulate for nearly  decade.  They were indicted on behalf of 119 litigants (Allen vs the City of Oakland) for 26 counts of kidnapping, false arrests, beatings, falsified police reports, planting evidence, robbing their “suspects” and tampering with evidence. 

Despite 2 mistrials, the OPD settled out of court for $10.9 million in damages Their ring leader fled the country and is being actively sought by the FBI.  The OPD was placed under the surveillance of an independent monitoring team (IMT) appointed by the federal district court.  When the case was reviewed in January 2012, they found the OPD had not complied with the terms of the settlement.  Their power to render independent decisions was stripped and they now are required to seek “consultations” with the IMT. The plaintiffs want them placed under federal receivership control, which is in progress.  

http://www.oaklandcityattorney.org/notable/Riders.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204624204577183211223587948.html

58 anti-Iraq war demonstrators were awarded $2 million for an April 2003 police brutality outbreak involving “militarized” projective weapons. They signed an agreement prohibiting them from using “wooden or rubber bullets, taser stun guns, pepper spray and motorcycles to break up crowds”….an agreement they promptly violated in Nov 2011 when Iraq war veteran and OWS supporter Scott Olsen sustained a skull fracture from an OPD projectile amongst clouds of tear gas that landed him in ICU for a prolonged hospitalization.  If memory serves, rubber bullets and concussion grenades were used in this most recent mass arrest of 400.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/11/06/BAGHR9MTMV1.DTL

The discussion would not be complete without mentioning collusion with their enblers:  How California Law Shields Oakland Police.  Detailed analysis of the legal underpinnings that allow OPD to get away with it. 

http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/08/deadly_secrets_how_california_law_has_shielded_oakland_police_violence.html