Oakland mayor says police chief's leave is not punitive
OAKLAND -- Standing on the steps of Oakland CIty Hall, newly elected Mayor Sheng Thao Saturday said the decision to put the city's police chief on leave was not punitive.
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong was placed on administrative leave by Mayor Thao following a report released Wednesday detailing allegations of police misconduct in the police department. The alleged misconduct may call into question whether the department can exit the federal oversight it has been under for about 20 years.
However, Mayor Thao said during her Saturday press conference, "I want to make sure that everyone understands that, under our administration, that we take these findings seriously and it's important that we look at taking the corrective action that is needed to make sure that we stay on track to make sure that we get out of the federal oversight."
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As the mayor waits for more information, community leaders are coming out to defend Chief Armstrong, who's extremely popular in the city.
The decision to place Armstrong on leave was "excessive," Oakland mayoral runner-up and former city councilmember Loren Taylor said Saturday.
"I have come to the conclusion that the decision to put Chief Armstrong on Administrative leave was excessive and, if I were Mayor, I would not have done it," Taylor said in a statement issued Saturday.
The investigative report was written by the law firm Clarence Dyer & Cohen LLP, which was hired last year by the city of Oakland.
"In the report, the chief is faulted for not knowing about and not acting on information that the report acknowledges was withheld from him by Internal Affairs staff during his Friday briefing," Taylor added.
"LeRonne Armstrong is Oakland. When we cry, he cries. When we bleed, he bleeds. And this community has cried out for leadership of our town that can relate to 'The Town.' And I don't believe there's a more trusted leader at the helm than LeRonne Armstrong," former Oakland councilmember Lynette McElhaney told KPIX on Saturday.
McElhaney said the problem isn't Armstrong, it's the court monitor Robert Warshaw, who was appointed by a federal judge to oversee the Oakland police department. The city pays Warshaw and his team more than a $1 million per year.
The department has been under federal oversight for 20 years. It was only supposed to last five years.
"(Warshaw) has 1.2 million reasons to always find fault. Oakland right now is a cash cow for a permanent pension for Chief Warshaw and, had we just gone under receivership with the Department of Justice, we would have far exceeded the expectation of many other departments in the country. And yet, we're held under the thumb of a singular person. I think it's egregious. I think it's a money grab," McElhaney said.
Some people called Warshaw the super chief since he has the power to hire and fire police chiefs.
The federal oversight was set to end this May but city leaders fear the poor handling of the current misconduct case will prolong the oversight.
"If there are wrongdoings, then there are wrongdoings. Those are the facts," Mayor Thao said.
Warshaw proponents said Oakland police have only themselves to blame.
"Under our administration ... we must do what we need to do to get out of that oversight," Mayor Thao said.
She wants to show the public and the court monitor that, whether it's a rookie cop or the top cop, they will face the same investigative process. There will be no favoritism.
"My believe is that, by holding ourselves accountable, we can be safer and a more just city," Mayor Thao said.
"The public should be very concerned that Warshaw's handling of the department has left us without consistency of leadership, which means you cannot get consistency in reform. Chief Armstrong is the 10th chief in 10 years and there's no way to effectuate positive change with that level of turnover," McElhaney said.
McElhaney said that, if the city does fire Chief Armstrong, then the court should also fire Warshaw. She said the court should question why Oakland isn't in compliance after Warshaw has been on the job for so many years.
Meanwhile, former city councilman Loren Taylor, who lost to Thao in November's mayoral election, called Thao's decision to place Chief Armstrong on administrative leave excessive.
Taylor said he was shocked and surprised when he first learned of the move. He said he would not have made that decision if he were mayor.
"The report clearly says that the team who was briefing the chief left out significant elements of this case, but yet the chief is being held to account for those things that he wasn't aware of," he said.
Taylor said he doesn't believe that warrants placing him on administrative leave, though he recognizes the buck stops with the chief. He believes this move more than likely puts him on a path toward dismissal.
"When you have someone at a senior executive level, and you put them on administrative leave, issue a press release, that then puts their name in headlines across the country," said Taylor. "That is a significant amount of harm that is inflicted for something that is supposed to be not punitive."
Taylor said other options to hold the chief accountable include a formal reprimand and docking his pay.
He said the shakeup is happening at a time when employee morale is at a historic low.
The city's focus should be on its vacancy crisis.
"Next week we're going to be without a city administrator, we do not have a homeless administrator anymore, we have vacancies in the directors of human services, economic development, housing," Taylor said.
He added that as a city councilmember, when he called attention to a shortage of patrol officers in East Oakland, the chief responded.
"It was through conversations with and partnering with the police chief that we were able to expand to six police areas, that actually brought 48 additional officers on the ground," said Taylor. "It's transformations like that that he has championed."
Betty Yu contributed to this report.
