Oakland police chief on leave over handling of misconduct
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Oakland’s police chief was placed on administrative leave Thursday after an investigation concluded he failed to properly handle serious misconduct by an officer.
Chief LeRonne Armstrong was placed on paid leave indefinitely and Assistant Chief Darren Allison was named acting chief.
“The decision was not taken lightly, but we believe that it is critical for the safety of our community that we build trust and confidence between the Department and the public,” said a joint statement by Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and City Administrator Ed Reiskin. “We must have transparency and accountability to move forward as a safer and stronger Oakland.”
Armstrong didn’t immediately comment on the news.
The move came after a law firm hired for an independent investigation concluded that the chief and the department failed to properly investigate and discipline a sergeant who ripped the bumper off a neighbor’s car in a hit-and-run crash in 2021 and last year fired his gun in a freight elevator at police headquarters.
The report was filed Wednesday in federal court.
It said the department’s Internal Affairs Division downplayed the first incident so that the sergeant could avoid serious discipline and the police chief violated department rules by “failing to hold his subordinate officers to account” and allowing the officer “to escape responsibility for serious misconduct.”
The law firm probe said the department had “systemic deficiencies” in its ability to handle officer misconduct, including some that “stem from a failure of leadership” and “a lack of commitment to the pursuit of truth by the Internal Affairs process.”
“The multiple failures, at every level, to hold this sergeant responsible, belie OPD’s stated position that it can police itself and hold its members accountable for misconduct,” the report said.
Armstrong, who was appointed in February 2021, has touted reforms in the department, which was placed under federal oversight some two decades ago because of a corruption scandal and ordered to make dozens of changes.
The spur for the oversight were allegations that an anti-gang unit had planted drugs, beat suspects and falsified reports.
Last year, a federal judge ruled that the Police Department could take a step toward ending the federal oversight. U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick said Oakland had taken the required reform measures and allowed it to enter a one-year probationary period that could end oversight in June.
It wasn’t immediately clear how the new findings would affect that timeline.
