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Fired OPD chief formally appealing ouster

Oakland Police Department headquarters
Gregory Veen
/
Flickr / Creative Commons
Oakland Police Department headquarters

City officials will have a hearing officer review Armstrong's case and offer a recommendation whether to restore the chief to his role or uphold the firing.

Armstrong was fired two weeks ago without cause by Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. In her announcement, Thao cited comments Armstrong allegedly made minimizing misconduct by an officer as the department tries to get out from under federal oversight.

Police misconduct prompted the federal oversight, which has been ongoing for about 20 years.

Armstrong's appeal is a step toward legal action by the chief who has the support from many in the community. Many believe Thao made a mistake in firing him. Armstrong maintains that his firing was retaliatory and wrongful and that the federal monitor is at least partly to blame.

Armstrong’s spokesman, Sam Singer, told Bay City News that his client’s dismissal came just as federal oversight of the OPD was coming to a close. He claimed that Federal Monitor Robert Warshaw “concocted false and misleading allegations to keep his lucrative contract in place.”

Thao said on the day she fired Armstrong that Warshaw was "profoundly disappointed in the evidence" brought to light in a report on alleged police misconduct and saw "significant cultural problems in the department."

The evidence included allegations that a police sergeant crashed a police vehicle into a parked vehicle in 2021 and left the scene. The following year, the same officer is alleged to have accidentally discharged his gun in the freight elevator of police headquarters and waited a week to report it.

Sunni M. Khalid is a veteran of more than 40 years in journalism, having worked in print, radio, television, and web journalism.