Oakland Police Rocked by One Scandal After Another

Oakland Police Rocked by One Scandal After Another

by Jonathan Nack
June 16, 2016

OAKLAND - You can't make stuff like this up. The hits just keep coming for the Oakland Police Department, according to reports by the East Bay Express and the PBS Newshour.

The Interim-Police Chief, Ben Fairow, was fired by Mayor Libby Schaff after only five days on the job. The Mayor claimed state law prevented her from giving details about the reason for the firing. http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2016/06/15/oakland-to-fire-interim-police-chief

Fairow, was the temporary replacement (really temporary) for Chief Sean Whent, who is widely believed to have been forced to retire by a court appointed monitor for his role in covering for twelve officers accused of sexual misconduct with an underage female. OPD has had a court appointed monitor for thirteen years, as a Federal Judge has been trying, largely unsuccessfully, to bring the department into compliance with Court ordered reforms. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-oakland-chief-20160612-snap-story.html

The new acting Chief of OPD will be Paul Figueroa. In 2011, Figueroa, then a Captain, was the commanding officer who gave the order that resulted in the shooting, and near killing, of Marine Veteran Scott Olsen during an Occupy Oakland Protest. Oakland paid $4.5 Million to settle a lawsuit brought by Olsen in 2014.  http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/opd-promoted-cops-involved-in-scott-olsen-case/Content?oid=3874048

The incident precipitated a "General Strike" on November 2, 2011, organized by Occupy Oakland, in which tens of thousands shut down the Port of Oakland and parts of downtown. https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2011/11/11/18698935.php

In a related national news story, the PBS Newshour featured a report today that a Stanford University study found extensive racial bias by OPD. The study found that Oakland Police were far more like to stop, search, handcuff, and arrest Black people. https://www.facebook.com/newshour/videos/10154282275063675/?hc_location=ufi

The reputation of OPD for being corrupt, vicious, racist, engaged in criminal activity, and deadly, only continues to grow.

(John Torok and the Occupy Oakland Facebook page greatly contributed to this story.)  https://www.facebook.com/groups/occupyoaktown/