BART Police Chief Kenton Rainey is scheduled to retire from the force on Dec. 31, General Manager Grace Crunican wrote in an email sent to the transportation agency's Board of Directors last week.
Since taking the reins following the controversial shooting death of Oscar Grant in 2011, Rainey has been tasked with improving the department's policing behavior and policies following a review audit, Cruncian wrote.
The transportation agency expects that filling Rainey's vacant position could end up taking five months, according to Cruncian.
The general manager added that a team comprised of BART's Board of Directors, BART Police Citizen Review Board and BART Police Associations will work together to find a replacement.
Both Deputy Chiefs Ben Fairow and Jeff Jennings will assume the role as acting police chief once Rainey relieves himself of his duties, Cruncian wrote.
During Rainey's tenure, he had to manage a friendly-fire shooting death investigation after one of his officers was gunned down by a colleague, he faced a federal lawsuit relating to the agency's practice of denying the use of trained SWAT officers for building and probation searches, and he had to answer questions about the fleet's use of surveillance cameras.
