Oakland Police Chief Armstrong on paid leave amid new misconduct scandal

OAKLAND -- City officials in Oakland early Thursday evening confirmed that Chief of Police LeRonne Armstrong has been placed on paid administrative leave after an investigation concluded he failed to properly handle serious misconduct by an officer.

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and City Administrator Ed Reiskin issued the statement about Armstrong being placed on leave after 6 p.m. 

"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," the statement read. "We must have transparency and accountability to move forward as a safer and stronger Oakland."

The Oakland Police Department on Friday confirmed the decision to put Chief Armstrong on paid administrative leave was made jointly by the mayor and City Administrator Reiskin.  

Officials said Assistant Chief Darren Allison will serve as Acting Chief effective immediately.  

ALSO READ: Chief Armstrong's leave is latest twist in troubled Oakland police department history

"Oakland and its Police Department have taken the negotiated settlement agreement very seriously and undertaken a number of steps to improve our systems for accountability and transparency," the statement added. "As part of that resolve, we have to hold officers accountable when they violate the public trust."  

Oakland officials said they received the report on Wednesday and confirmed additional findings are forthcoming. Because it is an ongoing personnel matter, city officials are not at liberty to comment further at this time.  

The report by independent law firm Clarence Dyer & Cohen LLP, concluded that the chief and the department failed to properly investigate and discipline a sergeant who ripped the bumper off a car in a hit-and-run crash in 2021 -- reportedly in a San Francisco parking lot while driving an OPD patrol car. Last year, the same police sergeant allegedly fired his gun in a freight elevator at police headquarters.

The report, which was filed Wednesday in federal court, 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.

When CBS News Bay Area contacted the department for comment, officials referred us to the city attorney's office, which has yet to provide a response.

Mayor Thao earlier Thursday released a statement that said in part, "I am deeply concerned about the findings of this report. The City of Oakland asked for this independent investigation precisely because the allegations were so troubling -- and because we take seriously the need to adhere to the negotiated settlement agreement."

On Friday morning, the Oakland Police Commission tweeted a statement that Chair Dr. Tyfahra Milele issued Thursday. The statement noted that the administrative leave for the chief was "not disciplinary" and that the commission would discuss the recent report at its next meeting.

The new misconduct allegations come just over six months after Armstrong touted the progress the department had made in police reforms in recent years. The department has been under federal oversight for two decades stemming from the Oakland Riders scandal of the early 2000s. 

The Oakland Police Department also came under scrutiny after the 2015 sex scandal involving multiple officers and a young woman who called herself Celeste Guap. That scandal led to both internal affairs and criminal investigations of the officers.

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