TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Ben Greenfield, Change Research
RE: Survey on Oakland Police Commission Reform
On behalf of Empower Oakland, Change Research polled 1,200 likely voters in Oakland from March 25-31, 2026 to understand Oaklanders’ views on the Oakland Police Commission and their attitudes around reforming the Commission. The margin of error for the poll is +3.0%.
6 in 10 Oakland voters would like to see significant reforms to the Police Commission.
Just 16% of voters want the Commission to remain as is. The plurality, 44%, would like the Commission to remain, but with significant changes to its structure and powers. Another 16% would like the Commission to be abolished entirely. These numbers show that Oaklanders strongly believe in the Commission and want it to continue–but only with significant reforms.
Support for making significant changes to the Police Commission is higher among voters of color than white voters, with the highest support being among Black voters: 51% of Black voters want to keep the Commission but make significant changes.
Additionally, a strong plurality of every City Council district favors keeping the Commission, but making significant changes.
Voters favor a range of different specific changes to the Commission.
Respondents were also asked about specific changes that could be made to the Commission. The survey found:
- By a very wide margin, voters support removing the Commission’s ability to hire and fire police chiefs (+20 net support)
- By a wide margin, support removing the Commission’s final say over department policies (+14 net support)
- By a very wide margin, voters support expanding eligibility rules, so that former police officers, lawyers, and others with relevant experience can serve on the Commission (+31 net support)
Polling was conducted online from March 25-31, 2026. Using Dynamic Online Sampling to attain a representative sample, Change Research polled 1,200 likely 2026 primary voters in Oakland. Post-stratification was performed on age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, urbanicity, region, and 2024 presidential vote. You can see a full methodology statement here, which complies with the requirements of AAPOR’s Transparency Initiative. Members of the Transparency Initiative disclose all relevant details about our research, with the principle that the public should be able to evaluate and understand research-based findings, in order to instill and restore public confidence in survey results.