Reports find Oakland police technology lagging, billboard deal costing city

Oakland police need major technology upgrades, while a city contract for billboard advertising is leaving $88 million on the table, a watchdog group of Alameda County residents wrote in a new series of reports detailing how local agencies could do better.

The latest Alameda County Civil Grand Jury reports, which were released this week, detailed missed opportunities in both the city’s policing and its contracts with private billboard companies that reportedly had “undue influence” over the city’s selection process...