To put it mildly, Oakland’s Police Department is a troubled institution. About to enter its 14th year of federal oversight, the department was recently rocked by a series of scandals involving officers and a sex worker. So Oakland council members Dan Kalb and Noel Gallo are to be applauded for developing Measure LL, a charter amendment to enhance police oversight and accountability through the creation of a civilian police oversight commission.

In a way, it’s shocking that Oakland doesn’t already have a civilian police commission. (Many other cities in California, with fewer problems, have them.) There is a decades-old police review board, which investigates misconduct claims from the public and recommends discipline responses to the city administrator — but as Kalb explains, that’s not enough.

“Their recommendations are advisory, they’re understaffed, and they have a very narrow range of authority,” Kalb said. “The system we have today doesn’t seem adequate to get a handle on police reform.”

Measure LL would strengthen the current police review board and create Oakland’s first-ever civilian police commission.

The review board would receive more staff to conduct investigations (one investigator per 100 officers) and a mandate to investigate any case that also merits a Police Department internal investigation.

Meanwhile, the new commission would review department policies and propose changes to them. It would be responsible for finding new candidates for police chief, and would be able to terminate that chief, with cause, by a supermajority vote.

Finally, the agency, the commission and the police chief would all bear shared responsibility for deciding discipline in response to misconduct claims. That’s a system of checks and balances, and it represents a major accountability shift for Oakland.

“It’s going to set the table for us to do a better job when it comes to our policing policies and our accountability for the police chief,” Kalb said.

Doing a better job for policies and accountability are the steps Oakland needs to take in order to end federal oversight and rebuild public trust in its Police Department. Vote yes on Measure LL.