Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver

California's premier full-service law firm with an emphasis on the representation of peace officers in disciplinary, criminal, labor, workers' compensation, personal injury and other civil matters.

  • About Us
  • Practice Areas
    • Labor Representation
    • Civil Litigation
    • Personal Injury
      • Example of Case Results
    • Workers’ Compensation
    • DOE Security Clearance Hearings
    • Peace Officers
    • Firefighters
    • EMS Agency Investigations
    • Criminal Defense
    • CalPERS Appeals
  • Our Team
  • Classes
  • Media
    • Bulletins
    • RLS in the News
  • Resources
    • Links
    • Resources
    • Newsletters
  • Clients
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy

Go home retirees, cop union insists Chief says lawsuit isn’t in

March 20, 2007 by David Shirley

From: Oakland Tribune

Heather MacDonald

3/20/07

The Oakland Police Officers Association has asked an Alameda County Superior Court judge to block the continued use of retired officers to fill the gaps left by the Oakland Police Department’s severe staffing shortage.

Rocky Lucia, an attorney for the police union, said the city refused to bargain in good faith with OPOA officials and unilaterally continued employing the roughly 40 retired officers after an interim agreement expired Feb. 28.

“We’re protecting our rights under state law,” Lucia said.

The suit says the employment of retirees takes work from union members and limits their ability to earn overtime.

Union president Bob Valladon said Monday the city was attempting to civilianize the police department.

Police Chief Wayne Tucker said the department simply did not have enough officers to do crucial police work, and by employing retirees, no union members would be adversely effected.

“I’m disappointed,” Tucker said. “The lawsuit isn’t in the public interest.”

Deputy chief Howard Jordan said losing the 37 retired officers would be an enormous loss for a department struggling to fill 83 vacancies while coping with violent crime and federal court oversight.

Lucia said public safety would not be compromised by the loss of the retired officers.

The retired officers, who are paid $41.60 an hour and cannot work more than 960 hours a year, are performing investigative work and examining the background of prospective police officers, Jordan said.

One retired officer, assigned to the missing persons unit, was able to clear a backlog of 500 cases and reunite a man — considered dead — with his family, Jordan said.

“These are dedicated officers that were forced to retire in many cases because of medical concerns,” Jordan said.

A retired homicide investigator has been assigned the department’s “cold” cases that have forensic evidence. She has developed more than a dozen new leads, Jordan said.

The retired officers do not earn benefits, do not carry a gun or a badge and cannot arrest anyone, Jordan said.

Earlier this month, contract talks between the police union and city officials broke down over the city’s demand that the chief have more flexibility to run the department, and the union declared an impasse.

Several city sources said the union was unwilling to cooperate with city officials after the negotiations ended.

Lucia said the two matters were entirely separate.

Jonathan Holtzman, an attorney for the city, said union representatives unambiguously told city officials they would not extend the interim agreement reached in May after a public outcry prompted by a surge in violent crime.

Lucia disputed Holtzman’s statement.

“If they met with us, we would have come to an agreement,” Lucia said Monday.

The suit was filed Wednesday, and a hearing is set for April 25.

The city’s case is based on a state court of appeal ruling in a case brought by the Sacramento Police Officers Association against the city of Sacramento. A three-judge panel found unanimously the police department could hire retirees in response to an “abrupt” staffing shortage without bargaining with the police union.

“That case is directly on point,” Holtzman said.

However, Lucia said the facts of that case differ significantly from the situation in Oakland, where city leaders and police commanders have known for more than a year the department was severely short-staffed.

Filed Under: RLS In The News

Consultation Form

Offices across California to serve you.
Contact us now to schedule a consultation.
Contact form not loading? Click here!
Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC publishes this website as a service to our clients and other friends for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be used as a substitute for specific legal advice or opinions, and the transmission of information through this website is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship between sender and receiver. Internet subscribers and online readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. By providing a telephone number and submitting the form you are consenting to be contacted by SMS text message. Message & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out of further messaging.

© 2025 Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver, PC. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer

Click here for our privacy policy. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. Read our privacy policy for more details.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie settingsACCEPTREJECT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

Please read our full privacy policy by clicking here.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Please see our privacy policy for more information.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
  • Contact Us

  • News Alerts

  • Privacy Policy

Official logo for Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver
Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver Logo
  • About Us
  • Practice Areas
    ▼
    • Labor Representation
    • Civil Litigation
    • Personal Injury
      ▼
      • Example of Case Results
    • Workers’ Compensation
    • DOE Security Clearance Hearings
    • Peace Officers
    • Firefighters
    • EMS Agency Investigations
    • Criminal Defense
    • CalPERS Appeals
  • Our Team
  • Classes
  • Media
    ▼
    • Bulletins
    • RLS in the News
  • Resources
    ▼
    • Links
    • Resources
    • Newsletters
  • Clients
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
Hotline phone numbers. Northern California: 925-609-1699. Southern California: 310-393-1486.