Federal Judge Thelton Henderson

OAKLAND | Days after Oakland named its next police chief, Judge Thelton Henderson, who was tasked with pushing the struggling department to comply with more than a decade-long federal consent decree to reform its ranks, said he will retire in August, according toReuters.

Henderson, 83, told the news service that he simply doesn’t have the same amount of energy to do the job any longer. In addition, he also supervised the state’s prison healthcare system.

His retirement leaves questions as to how the Oakland police department’s will finally shed federal oversight that followed the infamous 2003 Riders case involving misconduct by its ranks.

In recent years, the department has slowly neared full compliance with the judge’s orders, but its conclusion has proven somewhat elusive.

But now, it will do so under a police chief following the selection of Anne Kirkpatrick last week and, now, a new judge, which will be selected randomly or by appointment, said Reuters.

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