On Tuesday, the Oakland City Council will consider whether to place on the November ballot a proposed charter amendment that, if adopted by voters, would create a civilian police commission with sweeping authority.

It could remove the chief of police, investigate public complaints against officers, issue findings, propose and impose discipline and propose changes to policies, procedures and general orders of the department, including use of force and First Amendment matters.

Sponsored by Council members Noel Gallo and Dan Kalb, and working with the Coalition for Police Accountability, the legislation would enact somewhat complicated procedures when selecting members of the commission to achieve a transparent and diverse representation with less political interference.

It is the ability of the commission to impose discipline that will likely be the pivot point for this measure. Yet it is an idea whose time has come.

Much like the flurry of privacy protecting legislation that has swept the nation since the Eric Snowden revelations, the explosion of police violence captured on cellphone video has caused a fever pitch of demand for holding officers accountable for their actions.

Sadly, they rarely are. Due to political weakness and police union strength, we frequently see our legal system make a mockery of the 14th Amendment’s so-called equality under the law.

With police officer bill of rights and one-sided employment contracts, those with a badge have become above the law, enjoying privileges the rest of us will never possess.

Having carefully examined Oakland’s recent budgets and insurance premiums, including our self-insurance line items for police misconduct, our city attorney’s annual reports on payouts and in-house and outside counsel fees as well as the police misconduct expenditures exposed by Abraham Hyatt at Oakland Police Beat, and the analysis of public record documents by East Bay Express writers Ali Winston and Darwin Bond Graham, I conclude the cost of police misconduct to Oakland taxpayers since 1990 is north of $110 million.

Yet that figure pales in comparison to the human toll — caused by such things as the Riders’ planted evidence and public strip-search of innocent people. In 2015, we saw five fatal shootings by officers in a five-month period, and yet not only does no one go to jail, the officers often get a paid vacation and retain their job. It’s Wall Street but with guns and loss of life.

Chicago’s embattled Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently disbanded his civilian police review board because it failed to discipline any police.

Chicago voters recently approved a $500 million bond with $100 million set aside solely for police misconduct payouts. Oakland has had a similar review board since 1980 but with no authority to impose discipline.

Thirteen years of a federal monitor have resulted only in a loss of local control of our department and millions of dollars transferred out of Oakland to pay for monitoring.

This past June, an independent study led by Stanford professor Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt said data revealed that Oakland’s patrol car stops are still tilted toward improper profiling and detaining of people of color, violating their civil rights.

In another example of terrible decision making, the administration recently announced its intention to hunt for the whistleblowers responsible for supplying information to the East Bay Express and others.

Without whistleblowers, there is no reform, a lesson I thought we learned from Snowden. The City Council must vote to place this measure on the ballot in November. It’s an idea whose time has come.

Brian Hofer is a resident of Oakland