Oakland Police Department Sergeant Michael Chung — who escaped severe discipline after allegedly being involved in a car accident, as well as discharging his firearm in an elevator at police headquarters — was heavily compensated for his official duties, according to confidential files reported on by Oaklandside.
Oaklandside obtained the documents from reports by an outside law firm that was tasked with investigating OPD’s handling of departmental discipline.
Chung heads OPD’s high-profile operations, as well as the new drone unit, to provide extra patrols of Oakland’s Chinatown, which has seen a dramatic increase in incidents of anti-Asian and Pacific Islander violence in recent years.
Last month, Oakland’s new Mayor Sheng Thao, placed OPD chief LeRonne Armstrong on leave for his handling of the Chung case. The scandal has effectively halted OPD’s progress in ending a 20-year consent decree, where the department has been under the supervision of a federal monitor to complete internal reforms.
Armstrong, who has received public support from some community activists and the local NAACP, is demanding his immediate reinstatement and has criticized the federal monitor.
