Oakland police Chief LeRonne Armstrong has been placed on administrative leave, Mayor Sheng Thao and City Administrator Ed Reiskin said late Thursday.
The move to place Armstrong on administrative leave comes after city officials reviewed reports issued by an independent law firm investigating alleged misconduct by OPD personnel as well as the department's investigation into the misconduct.
Sources within the police department told NBC Bay Area an officer was allegedly the driver in a hit-and-run crash in San Francisco and the same officer later fired his weapon inside a service elevator in the police station.
"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. We must have transparency and accountability to move forward as a safer and stronger Oakland," Thao and Reiskin said in a joint statement. "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. As part of that resolve, we have to hold officers accountable when they violate the public trust."
The announcement was still a surprise even to some on the city council.
“The reaction was shock. The city council just got word of this today," said Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife.
Fife said the mayor and city administrator told her and other members about the move in a closed door meeting Thursday afternoon.
“I hope to see that we actually have transparency and accountability, which is what I believe all Oaklanders want to see from our agencies that are intended to uphold the safety of its residents,” she said.
Fife added that this is procedural, not punitive, a move needed while an outside investigation moves forward but that Armstrong could very well return if he’s exonerated.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. >Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
The announcement even startled civil rights attorney John Burris, who has tried to hold the department accountable.
“I was quite surprised about the decision to put the chief on administrative leave,” he said.
Burris has been involved in lawsuits against the department since 2003, when 119 people accused four Oakland police officers known as “the riders” of everything, from police brutality to planting evidence and falsifying reports. Burris added that he’s troubled by the investigative report.
“It undermines a great deal of work that we have done over the last 17 or 8 years. So, we were disappointed about that,” he said.
Burris said the chief may not have been given enough information to make good decisions about discipline. But Burris said that Armstrong seemed to be one of the best chiefs that he’s seen at Oakland police in decades.
The department had 13 chiefs or interim chiefs since 1993.
Darwin BondGraham, a long time police and investigative reporter in the East Bay, who co-authored a book about the Oakland police riders is troubled by the findings.
“That some of the troubles they’re having around the internal affairs process right now are quite serious,” he said.
Assistant Chief Darren Allison will serve as acting chief.
No other information was immediately available.
