Four Oakland police officers have been fired following a nearly year-long investigation into a sex abuse scandal, City Administrator Sabrina Landreth said.
Seven other officers will be suspended without pay and an additional cop will receive counseling and training, Landreth said.
Accusations against the officers who were fired include attempted sexual assault, lewd conduct and assisting in prostitution, according to Landreth.
Landreth made the announcement with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf during a late Wednesday afternoon news conference to discuss the investigation.
"I am deeply sorry for the harm that this scandal has caused, particularly to community trust," Schaaf said.
The mayor said the discipline "sends a loud and clear message that we will hold our officers to nothing but the highest standards of professionalism and integrity."
Civil rights attorney John Burris believes further punishment is due.
"I’m hopeful that there are criminal charges because they should be prosecuted," Burris said. "We’re talking about men police officers having sex with a minor."
The Aug. 27, 2015, fire was extinguished without injuries or property damage — but it was a close call in an area adjacent to the 1991 Oakland firestorm where 25 people died. In the year and a half since, it has become a flashpoint for growing concerns that the fire department is failing to control dangerous conditions in the Oakland hillsides — and that some employees may be covering up the inadequacies in the inspection program.
Now, as the Oakland Fire Department is coming under even more scrutiny in the wake of the deadly Ghost Ship fire, for the first time a firefighter is blowing the whistle and asking: Why was that property marked as compliant, and who created apparently faked documents involving inspections near that Elverton fire?
But the biggest shock to firefighter Zac Unger came a week later. He filed a California Public Records Act request to his own department for 2014 and 2015 inspection records of properties on Elverton Drive. What he received led Unger to wonder whether the documents he received were created to appease his curiosity.
The documents, addressed to homeowners, claimed five properties had passed inspections a month earlier. The sixth claimed a property had passed inspection in early 2014 but informed the homeowner they were cleared through the 2015 fire season, despite no annual inspection that year. Although unsigned, the forms listed the author as former Oakland fire Marshal James Williams, who had left the department two years earlier.
Williams, now a Sonoma County fire marshal, declined to comment when reached by reporters, confirming only that he was not an Oakland fire department employee in 2015.
OAKLAND — A little more than three months after the deadly Ghost Ship fire and with the investigative report still pending, the city’s first African American female fire chief Teresa Deloach Reed filed retirement papers Tuesday, days after her city pension vested, the city administrator said.
Reed, a 59-year-old Oakland resident, filed retirement paperwork Tuesday with an effective date of May 5, City Administrator Sabrina Landreth confirmed. Reed is currently earning $155,772 a year in retirement from her previous 26 years of service at San Jose Fire, where she left in 2012 as an assistant chief.
Reed’s city pension vested after five years, adding 15 percent of her $241,000 salary, or $36,150 a year to her overall retirement pay. Assistant Fire Chief Mark Hoffmann is acting fire chief. Reed did not return a call Tuesday evening.
Reed will be remembered as the head of a fire department that dealt with the city’s deadliest fire ever. On Dec. 2, 36 people attending a concert died when a large blaze consumed the Fruitvale warehouse that was being illegally used as a residential space.
Hmm. Lots of nefarious happenings in the PD and FD. Suppose there could be covering up of some really heinous happenings that fateful night? I would not be one bit surprised.
Article from Washington Post By Peter Hermannon - August 16, 2016
D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced Tuesday that she will step down next month to take over as head of security for the National Football League, leaving behind a legacy of community engagement that endeared her from the city’s crime-ridden neighborhoods to the broader national stage.
Lanier is ending her 26-year career after recently turning 49, and four months short of serving a full decade heading one of the nation’s highest-profile police departments. She was the District’s first permanent female chief.
“What’s more important than being responsible for public safety and security in the nation’s capital?” Lanier said. “Where do you go from here, right? When I thought about the NFL, it’s America’s favorite sport, and what’s more important than making sure America’s favorite sport is safe?”
Now one of the nation’s most influential figures in law enforcement, Lanier rose from a challenging childhood, dropping out of high school at age 14 because she was pregnant and later earning a GED, a bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees. She has had an unusually long tenure heading a major police department, persevering through political tumult to work for three mayors.
“She’s built a fantastic force, professionalized the force, built a force that the community trusts, which is going to be a lasting legacy,” Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said.
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carmencita ago
Oh Dear.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Oakland-Mayor-to-Discuss-Conclusion-of-Sexual-Misconduct-Investigation-392663311.html
Four Oakland police officers have been fired following a nearly year-long investigation into a sex abuse scandal, City Administrator Sabrina Landreth said.
Seven other officers will be suspended without pay and an additional cop will receive counseling and training, Landreth said.
Accusations against the officers who were fired include attempted sexual assault, lewd conduct and assisting in prostitution, according to Landreth.
Landreth made the announcement with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf during a late Wednesday afternoon news conference to discuss the investigation.
"I am deeply sorry for the harm that this scandal has caused, particularly to community trust," Schaaf said.
The mayor said the discipline "sends a loud and clear message that we will hold our officers to nothing but the highest standards of professionalism and integrity."
Civil rights attorney John Burris believes further punishment is due.
"I’m hopeful that there are criminal charges because they should be prosecuted," Burris said. "We’re talking about men police officers having sex with a minor."
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/02/08/oakland-fire-department-did-administration-cover-up-near-miss-fire/
The Aug. 27, 2015, fire was extinguished without injuries or property damage — but it was a close call in an area adjacent to the 1991 Oakland firestorm where 25 people died. In the year and a half since, it has become a flashpoint for growing concerns that the fire department is failing to control dangerous conditions in the Oakland hillsides — and that some employees may be covering up the inadequacies in the inspection program.
Now, as the Oakland Fire Department is coming under even more scrutiny in the wake of the deadly Ghost Ship fire, for the first time a firefighter is blowing the whistle and asking: Why was that property marked as compliant, and who created apparently faked documents involving inspections near that Elverton fire?
But the biggest shock to firefighter Zac Unger came a week later. He filed a California Public Records Act request to his own department for 2014 and 2015 inspection records of properties on Elverton Drive. What he received led Unger to wonder whether the documents he received were created to appease his curiosity.
The documents, addressed to homeowners, claimed five properties had passed inspections a month earlier. The sixth claimed a property had passed inspection in early 2014 but informed the homeowner they were cleared through the 2015 fire season, despite no annual inspection that year. Although unsigned, the forms listed the author as former Oakland fire Marshal James Williams, who had left the department two years earlier.
Williams, now a Sonoma County fire marshal, declined to comment when reached by reporters, confirming only that he was not an Oakland fire department employee in 2015.
History seems to repeat itself as we all know.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/03/14/oakland-fire-chief-teresa-deloach-reed-retires-sources-say/
OAKLAND — A little more than three months after the deadly Ghost Ship fire and with the investigative report still pending, the city’s first African American female fire chief Teresa Deloach Reed filed retirement papers Tuesday, days after her city pension vested, the city administrator said.
Reed, a 59-year-old Oakland resident, filed retirement paperwork Tuesday with an effective date of May 5, City Administrator Sabrina Landreth confirmed. Reed is currently earning $155,772 a year in retirement from her previous 26 years of service at San Jose Fire, where she left in 2012 as an assistant chief.
Reed’s city pension vested after five years, adding 15 percent of her $241,000 salary, or $36,150 a year to her overall retirement pay. Assistant Fire Chief Mark Hoffmann is acting fire chief. Reed did not return a call Tuesday evening.
Reed will be remembered as the head of a fire department that dealt with the city’s deadliest fire ever. On Dec. 2, 36 people attending a concert died when a large blaze consumed the Fruitvale warehouse that was being illegally used as a residential space.
Hmm. Lots of nefarious happenings in the PD and FD. Suppose there could be covering up of some really heinous happenings that fateful night? I would not be one bit surprised.
septimasexta ago
Oakland is next to Berkeley (home of U.C. Berkeley). This is DIANE FEINSTEIN'S DISTRICT.
new4now ago
When Seth Rich was murdered, the top two in the Police retired
Wonder what kind of bonus she got
Police, Fire dept, Building inspectors...Politicians?
NoBS ago
Article from Washington Post By Peter Hermannon - August 16, 2016
D.C. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier announced Tuesday that she will step down next month to take over as head of security for the National Football League, leaving behind a legacy of community engagement that endeared her from the city’s crime-ridden neighborhoods to the broader national stage.
Lanier is ending her 26-year career after recently turning 49, and four months short of serving a full decade heading one of the nation’s highest-profile police departments. She was the District’s first permanent female chief.
“What’s more important than being responsible for public safety and security in the nation’s capital?” Lanier said. “Where do you go from here, right? When I thought about the NFL, it’s America’s favorite sport, and what’s more important than making sure America’s favorite sport is safe?”
Now one of the nation’s most influential figures in law enforcement, Lanier rose from a challenging childhood, dropping out of high school at age 14 because she was pregnant and later earning a GED, a bachelor’s degree and two master’s degrees. She has had an unusually long tenure heading a major police department, persevering through political tumult to work for three mayors.
“She’s built a fantastic force, professionalized the force, built a force that the community trusts, which is going to be a lasting legacy,” Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said.
(Click Bait Wall Warning)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/dc-police-chief-cathy-l-lanier-leaves-to-work-for-the-nfl/2016/08/16/9d81ae2c-63ba-11e6-be4e-23fc4d4d12b4_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.270d8c1c431b
new4now ago
Just in time to kneel for the flag and anthem
carmencita ago
Yeah, dumped for Newsham. Friend of JA. He seems to be handling things OK for THEM.