Oakland employee resigns police commission post in disgrace

A city of Oakland employee has resigned from her post as vice chair of the panel that picks members of the city’s Police Commission following her conviction on a misdemeanor embezzlement charge, her attorney said on Wednesday.

Candice Jessie, who works for the Oakland Public Works Department, was placed on three years’ probation after she entered a no contest plea July 1 to a charge that she stole more than $6,000 between Sept. 23 and Dec. 14 in 2018 from a cash register at the Home Depot store in Emeryville where she also worked.

As part of her plea agreement Alameda County prosecutors dismissed a misdemeanor count of grand theft.

Jessie was scheduled to have a hearing Tuesday to determine how much restitution she must pay but the hearing was postponed until Oct. 8 at the request of her attorney Chris Dobbins.

Dobbins said Wednesday that he needs more time to review video surveillance camera footage of the 27 times that Jessie allegedly took cash from the store.

Dobbins said Jessie is “very embarrassed and ashamed” about what she did and resigned Tuesday from the panel that selects police commission members after news agencies carried stories about her case.

Jessie had served on the panel for two years. The Oakland Police Commission oversees the police department’s policies and officer misconduct investigations.

Loss prevention officers at the Home Depot in Emeryville began investigating Jessie after they noticed a shortage of cash in her register, Emeryville police Officer Arnold Salaiz wrote in a probable cause statement.

The officers then reviewed surveillance camera footage and discovered she had taken $6,000 in cash over a period of three months, Salaiz said.

Home Depot managers then fired Jessie and called the police, according to Salaiz.

Jessie is still employed at the Oakland Public Works Department but is currently taking some time off, Dobbins said.