The city of Oakland, California, fired its police chief on Wednesday over an alleged cover-up of officer misconduct, marking the loss of the city’s seventh police chief since 2016 as the department nears 20 years under federal supervision.
Democratic Mayor Sheng Thao announced that she would fire Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong after an independent investigation concluded that the chief and the department failed to properly investigate and discipline the sergeant. Michael Chung, who was involved in a hit-and-run with his patrol car in 2021.
A separate incident also showed Chung firing his firearm inside an elevator at police headquarters, according to The Associated Press.
Thao, who took office last month, said in a lengthy statement that the federal judge overseeing the city said he was “deeply disappointed” by the evidence he had seen, and that the report demonstrated “significant cultural issues” within the department. Oakland Police.
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Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong speaks during a press conference in front of City Hall in Oakland, California on August 30, 2022. (Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
The issues were determined to be serious enough that the Oakland Police Department failed to comply with an important requirement of a negotiated settlement agreement initially decided in January 2003.
Thao said that he personally believes that the report shows that continued reform is absolutely necessary to address the problems that have come to light.
“As Oakland continues to improve its police department, we must be confident that our Chief will be effective in making sustainable improvements that can be recognized by the federal monitor, the federal court and the people of Oakland,” Thao said.
He said that he admires Armstrong, it made his decision difficult, but he had to put aside personal relationships and feelings for progress to continue.
“Chief Armstrong has my respect and appreciation for his service to the Department and to the City that he grew up in and loves dearly. He will continue to have my respect and appreciation,” Thao added.
He also made it clear that there are many Oakland police officers who serve the public with integrity and work “extremely hard” to maintain and build trust within the community, but the high standards set for officers must also be achieved in leadership.
Armstrong was placed on paid administrative leave last month while the mayor reviewed investigations by the department’s federal monitor that found Armstrong liable for “gross dereliction of duty.”
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao announces the firing of Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong during a press conference at City Hall in Oakland, California on Wednesday, February 15, 2023. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group via AP)
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According to The Associated Press, investigations by the law firm of Clarence Dyer & Cohen determined that Armstrong failed to investigate or discipline Chung after he struck a Mercedes parked in the stall next to his patrol car as he was pulling out of the parking lot of his apartment building. in San Francisco.
The report, first obtained by KTVU-TV and released by local outlet Oaklandside, found that Officer Kayla Brandwood was with Chung during the March 25, 2021 incident. Although Chung stopped for approximately five seconds, none of the officers got out of the car after the incident. collision. Surveillance footage from the parking lot reportedly showed that the impact of the collision “ripped off” the front bumper of the Mercedes.
The accident was never reported to supervisors, and the city only learned of the incident when it received a claim from Progressive Insurance detailing what happened.
In its 56-page report, the law firm said a police captain in the department’s Internal Affairs Division downplayed the hit-and-run incident and coached the investigating officer to write a report allowing Chung to escape discipline.
A year later, in 2022, Chung fired his service weapon inside an elevator at OPD headquarters, disposed of the evidence and didn’t inform his supervisors until a week later, according to The AP. He has reportedly been on paid administrative leave ever since.
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An Oakland police cruiser stands in front of Oakland Police Headquarters on December 6, 2012 in Oakland, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Oakland police made national news in 2000 after a rookie officer denounced abuse of power by a group of officers known as the Oakland “Riders.” Four officers were charged with making false arrests, planting evidence, using excessive force, falsifying police reports and assaulting people in the predominantly black area of West Oakland, The AP reported.
Three of the officers were acquitted after two separate juries deadlocked on most of the charges. The fourth officer is a fugitive and is believed to have left the US.
The case led to the decision to place the department under federal supervision in January 2003. The agreement required the enactment of 52 reform bills and mandatory reporting of progress to an outside monitor and a federal judge.
Armstrong, an Oakland native with strong community support, was named police chief in 2021 after more scandals plagued the department for years. He promised that his priority was to enact all the reforms within a year.
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Armstrong said he was deeply disappointed by the decision to fire him, and it will become clear that he did not commit any misconduct once all the facts are assessed, according to a statement issued by representative Sam Singer.
“After the relevant facts are fully evaluated by weighing the evidence rather than extracting snippets from strategically leaked inaccurate reports, it will become clear that I was a loyal and effective reformer of the Oakland Police Department,” the statement read. “It will be equally clear that I did not engage in any misconduct and that my termination is fundamentally wrong, unjustified and unfair. I anticipate releasing a more detailed statement soon, once I have a chance to fully digest the mayor’s comments.”
Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong speaks to members of the press and supporters at a conference at Acts Full Gospel Church in Oakland, California on Sunday, February 5, 2023. (Bronte Wittpenn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Armstrong was the 13th person to lead the department since federal oversight began in 2003. He received the endorsement of John Burris, one of two attorneys who filed the 2000 lawsuit against Oakland police on behalf of 119 plaintiffs.
Burris reportedly said he was disappointed Thao based his decision on what he considers “not very strong evidence of wrongdoing on Mr. Armstrong’s part.”
The attorney, who has met regularly with the police department and federal monitor for the past 20 years, said the police department has made “great strides and positive changes” in the way it deals with the community.
“We don’t have the beating that we used to have. We don’t have people being detained for their race at the same level that we had before. We don’t have the shooting and use of deadly force that we had.” before. We don’t have mistreatment of the mentally handicapped in the same way that we did,” Burris said.
Though Burris said the issue at hand is a cultural issue within the police, adding that “the disappointing part is that it hasn’t changed.”
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The Oakland Police Department building is seen in Oakland, California, USA, on Thursday, June 4, 2020. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The department was set to be free of federal oversight in June after Federal Judge William Orrick placed OPD on a one-year probationary period last year, saying “substantial compliance” had been achieved. In January, his decision to release a portion of the law firm’s reports led to Armstrong’s placement on paid administrative leave.
“The report … demonstrates that significant cultural issues within the department remain unaddressed,” Orrick said during a virtual hearing.
The city has been ordered to submit its plan to comply by April 4.
Oakland police did not respond to Fox News Digital’s question about an interim police chief.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
