She also declined to say if Fairow’s removal was connected to his time as an Oakland cop or his time with BART, citing privacy laws.
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Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf removed interim police chief Ben Fairow on Wednesday, June 15, 2016, after appointing him less than a week ago amid a widening sex scandal involving several officers.
“However, I have just received information that has caused me to lose confidence in Ben Fairow’s ability to lead the Oakland Police Department at this particular moment in time”, the press release stated.
Rainey’s statement that nothing Fairow has done “precludes him from serving as a sworn law enforcement officer or as one of my Deputy Chiefs”.
The Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Chief Kenton Rainey later confirmed Fairow would be reassigned to the department.
“I think cops are fine”, she told The East Bay Times.
The mayor continued by saying the decision to appoint Fairow was a mistake.
The Oakland Police Department has been under renewed scrutiny since the city’s previous chief revealed publicly last month that an internal investigation had been launched into alleged sexual misconduct with a minor by three officers.
Libby Schaaf told reporters at a City Hall news conference Wednesday that she had a brief series of interviews with Ben Fairow before his appointment. Stanford University released an analysis of vehicle and pedestrian stops conducted by Oakland police that showed the department disproportionately stopped and searched African Americans compared to other residents. The situation with Fairow, he said, only furthered the idea that Oakland officials have been inadequately vetting candidates for police jobs.
The Oakland department remains under federal oversight as part of a settlement that stemmed from a civil lawsuit accusing officers of a lengthy pattern of police brutality and racial profiling.
The mayor removed Fairow from the post just six days after she appointed him.
Oakland police first started looking into employee’s involvement with Guap after the suicide of an officer last September.
O’Brien left a suicide note that indicated he and four other officers were involved in inappropriate relationships with a young prostitute, according to Burris, who is briefed on such matters because of his role in the monitoring process.
The encounters happened in exchange for protection or advance word on planned prostitution stings, and three of the officers had sex with her when she was underage, the woman has said.
The police department in Richmond has said several ranking officers are being investigated for possible contact with the woman or policy violations.
Schaaf and Landreth turned the investigation over to the district attorney’s office, per an executive order Schaaf signed May 13, and asked an outside investigator to run a parallel internal affairs investigation. Two of those have already resigned and another three remain in a paid leave following accusations of a sexual misconduct. A Contra Costa County Sheriff’s deputy has also been suspended because of information that surfaced during Oakland’s investigation into the scandal.
New leadership will be critical to making clear the department does not tolerate “unethical behavior, sexual misbehavior or lying”, Schaaf said.
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In the statement, Schaaf said, “State law prohibits me from further elaborating on the specific factors that led to this decision”.
