The police department for Oakland, Calif. lost its second police chief in less than a week on Wednesday, amid a scandal involving allegations of statutory rape of a sex worker by multiple officers.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announced the removal of interim police chief Ben Fairow on Wednesday. Schaaf had appointed Fairow to replace former chief Sean Whent, who stepped down last week, the Guardian reported.
“I have just received information that has caused me to lose confidence in Ben Fairow’s ability to lead the Oakland Police Department (OPD) at this particular moment in time,” Schaaf said in a statement, but did not give details about the information. “I made the decision to appoint Ben Fairow, I also own the decision to remove him. I firmly believe that when you make a mistake, you need to own it, and act quickly to correct it.”
The leadership shake-up comes after a few high-profile scandals have plagued the department and raised questions about widespread misconduct in the city’s police force. The sexual misconduct scandal follows accusations that late officer Brendan O’Brien killed his wife in 2014 and got away with it. O’Brien left a suicide note last year that led to investigations into sexual misconduct in the department.
- What We Know So Far About the Deadly Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria
- Beyoncé's Album of the Year Snub Fits Into the Grammys' Long History of Overlooking Black Women
- How the U.S. Shot Down the Alleged Chinese Spy Balloon
- Effective Altruism Has a Toxic Culture of Sexual Harassment and Abuse, Women Say
- Inside Bolsonaro's Surreal New Life as a Florida Man—and MAGA Darling
- 'Return to Office' Plans Spell Trouble for Working Moms
- 8 Ways to Read More Books—and Why You Should
- Why Aren't Movies Sexy Anymore?
- How Logan Paul's Crypto Empire Fell Apart
