Oakland paid out more for potholes than police force cases [Video]

OAKLAND, Calif. – Oakland has paid out far more to settle pothole injury cases than excessive force and wrongful death police cases in the last five years, according to a data analysis by KTVU.

And in fact, a city-by-city comparison of Oakland, San Jose and Fremont shows that Oakland has paid the most of the three to settle pothole suits and the least amount of any city to settle police cases.

From 2018 to 2023, Oakland paid $27 million to people injured from pothole accidents – like severing arteries by tripping on a pothole or breaking bones by riding bicycles over potholes, legal settlement and payout information from the city attorney’s office shows.

In that same time period, Oakland paid out $1.7 million to settle police force cases.

The comparison between potholes and police payouts in Oakland is a poignant one.

Before the Oakland Police Department was put under federal oversight in 2003, …