The Community Police Review Agency is the civilian investigative arm of the Oakland Police Commission. CPRA's primary role is to investigate community members' allegations of officer misconduct arising out of interactions with sworn members of the Oakland Police Department. The Citizens’ Police Review Board (CPRB) was disbanded on December 15, 2017, and the Community Police Review Agency (CPRA) was created in its place.
The app is located in the complaint portal of the CPRA, https://apps.oaklandca.gov/CPR... and is a case management system that will also improve internal tracking, investigation, and data collection of complaints.
On Thursday, January 7, 2021, the Oakland Police Commission Unanimously Passed a First-in-the-Nation Policy on Police Interactions with Armed Unresponsive Persons
Executive Director
John Alden has served as the Executive Director of the Community Police Review Agency since July 2019. Mr. Alden brings to Oakland a decade of deep experience in police accountability. Mr. Alden previously worked for the San Francisco Department of Police Accountability (DPA), formerly known as the Office of Citizen Complaints, and also for the Internal Affairs Division of the San Francisco Police Department. In those offices, he managed the investigation of complaints of police misconduct and use of excessive force, litigated disciplinary hearings, and advocated for changes in police policies and procedures. Mr. Alden also served as the Managing Attorney of the Independent Investigations Bureau ("IIB") in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, a unit specializing in the investigation and prosecution of Officer-Involved Shootings, In-Custody Deaths, and other forms of potentially criminal officer misconduct.
Before working in police accountability, Mr. Alden began his career as a prosecutor, working in Sonoma and Marin Counties, and then transitioned to private practice litigating employment law matters. Early in his career, he worked in the State Legislature as an Unruh Fellow.
Mr. Alden received both his law degree and bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
City of Oakland - Dalziel Building