Oakland police Chief LeRonne Armstrong is on administrative leave following a report released Wednesday detailing allegations of police misconduct in the police department.
The allegations consist of two infractions by the same police sergeant and a poor investigation by the police department's internal affairs division, which investigates officer misconduct.
A source told NBC Bay Area Friday that Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the city administrator called Armstrong to tell him was on administrative leave. The source adding Thao placed that call while in D.C.
The misconduct may call into question whether Oakland police can exit the federal oversight it has been under for about 20 years.
The investigative report was written by the law firm Clarence Dyer and Cohen LLP, which was hired last year by the city of Oakland.
"We have to hold officers accountable when they violate the public trust," newly elected Mayor Sheng Thao said Thursday.
The sergeant's first infraction, according to the report, was allegedly leaving the scene of a March 2021 collision he was involved in and failing to report the collision. The sergeant was driving a police vehicle when the collision occurred.
The second infraction involved the alleged accidental firing of a gun in April 2022 in the freight elevator of police headquarters and waiting a week to report that. The sergeant also allegedly removed evidence of the discharge.
Clarence Dyer and Cohen's report concluded in part that the internal affairs division "sought to recast, deflect, and minimize the severity of the officer's misconduct."
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That "created an environment that allowed that officer to go on to commit far more egregious and dangerous misconduct" with the discharge of the weapon in police headquarters.
The report said leaving the scene of the collision amounted to a hit-and-run, yet the internal affairs division found that "that the officer had not violated a departmental rule requiring obedience to laws."
Armstrong at a regular briefing allegedly did not allow "extensive discussion" of the collision or request that a video of it be shown.
Instead, Armstrong quickly approved the recommended finding against the sergeant for being involved in a preventable collision but not for the hit-and-run. Armstrong also signed the report of the investigation without reading it.
Armstrong could not immediately be reached for comment Friday morning.
But Brenda Grisham, executive director of the Christopher LaVell Jones Foundation, which honors her son who was murdered in Oakland in 2010, said the report only tells one side of the story.
She described the infraction by the sergeant as petty and said the community is going to stand behind the chief. She has known Armstrong for years and said she sighed in relief when he became chief.
"We're going to support that man to the fullest," Grisham said of Armstrong.
His side of the story is "going to be very important," she said.
"The effectiveness that he's had in the community is going to be shown," Grisham added.
It will be terrible if the Police Department loses Armstrong because of the work he's done, Grisham said. He's been turning things around.
Following reports that Armstrong had been placed on leave, Thao said, "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."
Oakland Assistant Police Chief Darren Allison will take over as acting chief in Armstrong's absence.
"Despite the decision to place Chief Armstrong on administrative leave, Oakland residents can be assured that its dedicated police officers will continue to respond to their calls for help," Barry Donelan, president of the Oakland police union, said in a statement.
Bay City News contributed to the report.
