Several prominent East Bay leaders are now calling for Oakland to immediately reinstate police Chief LeRonne Armstrong.
He was placed on leave by the city last week amid accusations of failing to adequately scrutinize an officer accused of misconduct.
“He didn’t do anything wrong, we went over everything,” said Cynthia Adams, Oakland NAACP president. “We are the NAACP, we went over everything to make sure, reinstate him, do the right thing.”
Mayor Sheng Thao previously mentioned that Armstrong was placed on administrative leave to provide an opportunity to fully review the findings of the report. It's unclear if the NAACP has been provided the full report.
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Armstrong claims he did issue discipline, but couldn’t take full action because the federal monitor who oversees the department took over the investigation.
“To work and get to this point and have it taken away from you hurts. It doesn’t just hurt me, it hurts my community because everyday I come into this job to try to make Oakland better,” he said.
His supporters say the Oakland-born chief’s record speaks for itself.
From his work with violence interrupters, to his efforts to protect the AAPI community,
“For all this time you have had our back and today it is our turn to say that we have your back,” said Carl Chan of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce.
“We have to get on top of crime and a lot of methods that he has brought to this community has made a lot of ex-criminals stand behind him,” said Nina Carter of Violence Interrupter Youth Alive.
In a separate press conference Tuesday, Thao avoided specifically addressing the NAACP’s demand that the chief be reinstated.
“At the end of the day, that is a personnel matter and we are going to leave it at that,” she said.
As dozens of supporters called for the chief to be reinstated, they are also asking for an investigation into the federal monitor.
They claim his decisions may have financial motives.
Meanwhile, it is not clear how long an investigation will take to determine if, or when, the chief could be reinstated.
“I really value his leadership, his work. Now the monitor doing his study, I ain't never seen him on the streets of Oakland and yet he is going to come and tell me how to run the city,” Oakland City Councilmember said Noel Gallo.
