Search for Oakland's next police chief at a standstill as three commissioners boycott meeting

The search for Oakland’s next police chief was at a standstill Thursday night after a group of police commissioners boycotted the meeting.

This comes as the city of Oakland deals with increases in carjackings, armed robberies, and burglaries compared to last year.

The lack of commissioners meant no vote Thursday on a recommendation to reinstate former police chief LeRonne Armstrong, who was recently exonerated by a state arbitrator of any wrongdoing following his termination by mayor Sheng Thao back in February.

The members who did not attend the meeting were commissioner Karely Ordaz, commissioner Marsha Carpenter Peterson and chair emeritus Regina Jackson.

“Folks for whatever reason could prevent us from voting on any chief,” said Dr. Tyfahra Milele, Chair of the Oakland Police Commission.

The commissioners opened the floor to the public, discussing the possibility of reinstating Armstrong. While a small minority support the mayor’s decision to fire Armstrong.

“The purpose of this board is not to undermine her leadership,” said one resident.

A majority of the crowd were in favor of the move.

“We know him as a street soldier within the community. He had a connection with people he grew up with,” another resident said.

The police commission will attempt another vote on a recommendation to reinstate Armstrong during its next meeting on Oct. 12.

According to the commission’s timeline, it expects to provide a final list of candidates to Thao the following week.

NBC Bay Area got a response from the members who did not attend the meeting, alleging “toxic masculinity in the form of bullying” by a member of the commission.

They released the following statement Thursday night:

"We chose not to attend the commission meeting and all future meetings under the leadership of Chair Tyfahra Milele and Vice Chair Jordan for two main reasons:

(1) We do not support toxic masculinity in the form of bullying by Vice Chair Jordan and (2) the agenda did not represent the full body and misled the public regarding the status of former chief Armstrong's ability to be our next chief.

This type of fraud is undeserving of the trust that the citizens of Oakland have placed on this body at this crucial time in policing/public safety in Oakland.

As daughters of Oakland we have a history of showing up and doing the work. Our commitment continues to be with this body and with finding our next Chief. While we remain neutral in the hiring process we are excited to review and interview candidates so that we may make the best decision for Oakland.

The application deadline is set to end Sept 30 and we are confident that in working with our consultant we will be able to vet candidates of the highest caliber for consideration by our Mayor

We don't intend to see the process circumvented by politically motivated individuals who have created a circus atmosphere around this process.

We believe in truth, fairness, democracy accountability and transparency."

Oakland Police Department Commissioner David Jordan provided the following statement to NBC Bay Area on Oct. 3:

I'm extremely frustrated by political grandstanding and petty personal attacks that have often hindered the commission's ability to meet its potential. Especially right now during this time of increased fear around public safety. I'm incredibly disappointed that three women of color would exploit the most harmful stereotypes about men of color as a smoke screen to obscure their own poor behavior.

The three mayoral appointees on the commission have been failing to attend a number of meetings over the past two months in a coordinated attempt to deprive the commission of the quorum needed for decision-making. By targeting me with this accusation, they hope to obscure their motivations in continuing their obstructionist actions. This new series of ad hominem attacks is another example of the cynical political manipulation that has been their ongoing practice. This attempt to harm my personal reputation is flatly untrue and is a projection of the kind of coercive behavior that some in that group have engaged in consistently during their time on the Commission.

Again, these three political appointees from the previous administration are using whatever means necessary to obstruct a community-led process to empower themselves only. This ego-fueled attempt to halt the work of the Commission harms not only its current efforts but potentially damages the legitimacy of the Commission's work moving forward.