Oakland’s newly elected mayor has positioned Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong on administrative depart following a blistering exterior report that discovered the division mishandled circumstances of officer misconduct.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Metropolis Administrator Ed Reiskin introduced the change in management Thursday evening.
“The choice was not taken frivolously, however we imagine that it’s important for the security of our neighborhood that we construct belief and confidence between the Division and the general public,” the 2 metropolis leaders stated in a press release. “We should have transparency and accountability to maneuver ahead as a safer and stronger Oakland.”
The report delivered Wednesday by regulation agency Clarence Dyer & Cohen LLP, which the town of Oakland had employed final yr to analyze alleged misconduct and the Oakland Police Division’s response, highlighted two circumstances. The primary concerned an incident in 2021 wherein a sergeant crashed his car into one other automotive and drove away. He didn’t report the incident. The second was a 2022 case wherein the identical sergeant fired his gun inside a freight elevator at a police constructing. Once more, nobody reported the incident.
The skin attorneys discovered that the division didn’t appropriately self-discipline the sergeant and that Armstrong did not successfully assessment proof from the 2 incidents earlier than ending the investigations.
“The a number of failures, at each stage, to carry this sergeant accountable, belie OPD’s acknowledged place that it may police itself and maintain its members accountable for misconduct,” the report acknowledged.
The division has been underneath federal oversight for twenty years within the wake of a police corruption scandal within the early 2000s. The federal decide overseeing the case positioned the division on one-year probation interval final spring, signaling an finish to the oversight could be close to.
Each the mayor and metropolis administrator framed the choice to put Armstrong on depart as a part of their effort to “enhance our methods for accountability and transparency” as required by the settlement settlement.
“Now we have to carry officers accountable after they violate the general public belief,” they stated.
Armstrong was appointed chief by former Mayor Libby Schaaf in February 2021 to interchange Anne Kirkpatrick, who was fired in a transfer that led to a jury discovering final yr that she was wrongfully terminated for whistleblowing. Assistant Chief Darren Allison will now function performing chief, in line with the town officers.
