Oakland renews phone-cracking contract over fierce public pushback

Oakland
City Council Meeting
May 5, 2026

TL;DR

• The council renewed a $140,000 contract with Cellebrite, an Israeli firm that cracks locked phones for police, 6-2 despite 21 speakers urging no.
• On its third hearing, the council imposed the full $915,135.40 fine on two owners who illegally cut 38 protected trees, 5-3.
• The council approved a $1,024,000 no-bid contract with Peregrine, a police records-search platform founded by ex-Palantir staff.
• The council spent $523,938.09 to replace failing septic and water systems at the 100-year-old Feather River Camp.
• The council approved up to $16,815,000 in Public Works contracts to keep an aging city fleet running.

What happened

1. Oakland renewed a $140,000 contract for an Israeli phone-cracking tool
   1. The council voted 6-2 to keep paying Cellebrite, a company whose devices pull data off locked cell phones for police investigations. Twenty-one people spoke, almost all against it. They cited the company's ties to Israel and its tools' use against journalists and activists abroad. Councilmembers Fife and Ramachandran voted no. The contract waives the usual competitive bidding and runs from July 2026 through June 2027.
   2. What this means for you: OPD says it used the tool on more than 700 phones last year, almost all under a search warrant, and that about 30% were Android devices it can't crack any other way. Council members asked OPD to come back next spring with hard data on how often the tool actually helps solve crimes, plus a full review of other vendors.
2. Council hit two property owners with the full $915,135.40 tree fine, after nearly cutting it
   1. On its third hearing of this case, the council found Matthew Bernard and Lynn Warner illegally removed 38 protected trees from a hillside parcel and imposed the full penalty staff recommended. A motion to lower the fine to about $625,000 came first. Then Councilmember Gallo moved to reconsider, that passed 5-3, and the council adopted the full fine 5-3. The penalty also puts a hold on building permits and a lien on the property until it's paid.
   2. What this means for you: The owners can't pull permits to build on the parcel until they pay. Staff said it had not seen a violation this severe in about three decades. The owners were warned in person and in writing and kept cutting. Brown, Fife, and Houston voted no, with some arguing for a fine tied only to trees outside the home's buildable footprint.
3. Council approved a $1,024,000 records-search contract with a Palantir-founded firm
   1. The council voted 7-1 to sign a three-year, no-bid deal with Peregrine Technologies, which lets officers search police records like reports, stop data, and traffic citations in one place. Councilmember Fife cast the only no vote. Staff said the platform does not run predictive policing and does not take in license-plate or Flock camera data.
   2. What this means for you: OPD said its regional partners are all moving to Peregrine, so Oakland would lose the ability to search shared records across agencies if it stayed on its old system. The new platform also lets OPD audit who looks at its data and choose which agencies can see it.
4. Council spent $523,938.09 to fix Feather River Camp's septic and water systems
   1. The council approved a contract with Ackley Engineering to replace three septic tanks, the drain systems, and the drinking water system at Feather River Camp, a city-run camp near Quincy that opened in 1924. The item was pulled off the consent calendar so the council could debate it. The vote was 8-0.
   2. What this means for you: The camp can't run without working septic and water systems. The fix keeps it open for the roughly 1,130 Oakland youth and 4,110 residents who used it over the last four years. Councilmember Houston pressed staff on low participation from his District 7. Staff said the figures he cited came from a different program, not the camp, and committed to more outreach.
5. Council approved up to $16,815,000 to keep the city's vehicle fleet running
   1. The council backed 33 cooperative purchase agreements for Public Works, covering vehicle repairs, fuel, tires, and parts for the city's roughly 1,800 pieces of equipment. The vote was 8-0.
   2. What this means for you: Staff described a fleet in crisis. Of 17 street sweepers, only 8 to 10 were running. And 12 of 13 sewer flusher trucks were offline, forcing the city to rent one at about $14,000 a month. Staff said the city hasn't bought replacement vehicles regularly since 2022.

What residents brought up

• A CAL FIRE scientist with the Urban and Community Forestry Program said the agency planted more than 3,000 trees in Oakland through grants totaling over $9.8 million. She urged full enforcement of the tree ordinance so state investment isn't wasted. Several speakers from tree and parks groups backed the full fine, while others argued the case singled out a Black property owner when wealthier landowners cut trees without consequence.
• On the Cellebrite item, a tech worker with digital security experience urged a no vote. They called the tool prone to abuse against vulnerable residents. OPD also said it wasn't sure its alternative test failed for any reason but bad luck. One Zoom speaker said 65% of people whose phones OPD extracted were Black, and that the new policy stops tracking that racial data.
• On Peregrine, multiple speakers warned the platform pools personal data and could expose it to federal immigration agencies. They noted Alameda County recently delayed its own vote on the technology over its AI use.

Also happened

• The council adopted Rule 33, a Brown Act-required rule for handling technology disruptions during hybrid meetings, on a 6-0 vote.
• The council gave final approval to buy 3105 San Pablo Avenue for $3,495,000 for a new Hoover Branch Library.
• The council approved three legal settlements: $695,000 (Vima Harrison 1, LLC), $512,500 (Andrew Marshall-Buselt), and $130,000 (Kenneth Sanchez).
• The council renewed the Ceasefire-Lifeline contracts, adding $200,000 to the University of Pennsylvania evaluation and granting Faith in Action East Bay up to $150,000.
• The council gave final approval to an ordinance raising penalties for illegal dumping.
• The council renamed part of 45th Avenue "Ramiro G. Hernandez Way" and recognized Municipal Clerks Week.

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