OAKLAND, Calif. – The Oakland Police Department is going through police chiefs rapidly after dumping the current top cop. Chief LeRonne Armstrong is the seventh department head to be canned since 2016. He lost his job Wednesday after an investigation allegedly revealed he mishandled two officer misconduct cases, USA Today reported.
Mayor Sheng Thao, Oakland’s new city leader, said, “I am no longer confident that Chief Armstrong can do the work needed to continue much needed reforms.”
Armstrong took over the position just a few years ago after his predecessor, Anne Kirkpatrick, was fired when the police commission voted unanimously to terminate her without cause. The move was opposed by the Oakland Police Officers’ Association, Law Officer reported at the time.
When Kirkpatrick was axed without explanation following about three years of service at the helm, reporters seemed bewildered since she was hired amid an organization that had disastrous leadership in the years leading up to her hire.
The firing of Armstrong comes one month after the mayor and the city’s administrator announced they had placed him on paid leave. City leadership cited a report by an independent law firm accusing the chief of violating department policy since he allegedly didn’t review evidence from misconduct cases prior to closing the investigations, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Armstrong said he was deeply disappointed in Thao’s decision. Moreover, he believes that once all the facts are evaluated, he will be exonerated, saying his termination was “wrong, unjustified, and unfair.”
