3 Chiefs In 9 Days: Oakland Police Department In Scandal Meltdown
1. Police Chief Sean Whent (reports that Whent’s wife knew O’Brien was engaging in statutory rape)
2. Ben Farrow
3. Paul Figueroa
In June, Police Chief Sean Whent stepped down after three years of serving as chief, due to what he called a “personal choice,” but there are reports that Whent’s wife knew O’Brien was engaging in statutory rape. Guap said she contacted Whent’s wife, Julie, to tell her she was “dating an officer” while she was 17 years old, the Bay area local television station, KRON reported. Ben Farrow followed Whent as interim police chief but Mayor Schaaf said she discovered information about Farrow that would not allow him to continue as chief. The latest controversy over racist text messages is unconnected to the investigation of sex trafficking, Schaaf said.
Making matters more complicated, there have been reports questioning the police department’s investigation of the death of O’Brien’s wife. O’Brien’s wife died in 2014, and although it was investigated as a homicide at first, it was then ruled as a suicide. Family members of O’Brien’s wife, Irma Huerta Lopez, believe that O’Brien was responsible for her death, saying that the evidence didn’t add up.
https://thinkprogress.org/3-chiefs-in-9-days-oakland-police-department-in-scandal-meltdown-3eced7d4713b#.ey2o1bb1u
