Third Police Chief Quits Scandal-Rocked Dept

does california count as one of those despicable "southern states"??


Source.... http://news.sky.com/story/1713964/third-police-chief-quits-scandal-rocked-dept


The California city of Oakland has replaced its third police chief in just a week amid scandals involving alleged racist text messages and prostitution.

Paul Figueroa served only two days as acting police chief before tendering his resignation on Friday to Mayor Libby Schaaf.

Following the departure of the city's sixth police chief since 2011, the department will now operate under civilian control.

Mayor Schaaf did not say why Mr Figueroa left, but she said it was not related to the twin controversies engulfing the department.
Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent and Mayor Libby Schaaf discuss widespread vandalism that occurred during the previous night's May Day protest in Oakland



On Friday, she said text messages containing "unacceptable hate speech" had been sent by an Oakland police commander to four other department officers.

The 2014 texts depict images of the Ku Klux Klan and use the N-word, reports NBC Bay Area.

The officers who allegedly sent the texts are African-American.

"As a mayor of Oakland I am here to run a police department, not a frat house," the city leader said.

Mayor Schaaf called the culture at Oakland police department "toxic" and "macho".


The scandal echoes one that claimed the job of San Francisco's police chief last month after it emerged officers had been sending texts describing minorities as "barbarians" and "cockroaches".

Mr Figueroa had replaced interim Oakland police chief Ben Fairow, who was removed earlier this week after just five days.

The mayor said she had received unspecified information that made her question Mr Fairow's ability to lead.

He filled the vacancy left when Chief Sean Whent stepped down amid questions over his handling of a widening sexual misconduct scandal.
Celeste Guap

More than two dozen officers had sex with Celeste Guap, it is alleged

It is alleged 18-year-old prostitute Celeste Guap had sex with more than two dozen police officers across several counties and agencies, sometimes when she was underage.

Police began investigating that scandal after Oakland police officer Brendan O'Brien committed suicide last September, a year after his wife took her own life.

He reportedly left a note admitting he and other officers had sex with Ms Guap, whose mother is an Oakland police dispatcher, according to local media.

Oakland police department has been under federal oversight for the last 13 years because of past misconduct including officers planting evidence and robbing residents.

John Burris, the lawyer who helped place Oakland police under oversight, told the Los Angeles Times the department "appears to be a cesspool".