Oakland mayor says police will no longer require applicants to disclose if they’ve been sexually assaulted

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf says she has ordered an end to a police department’s policy that forced job applicants to give it access to confidential records, including those that would disclose if they had been sexually assaulted.

Schaaf said in a statement Sunday she has also ordered a thorough review of the Oakland Police Department’s hiring practices.

The San Francisco Chronicle revealed in a story Sunday that the department required potential hires to sign a waiver that gave background investigators access to “local criminal history information ... including if I have been a victim of sexual assault.”

Legal experts told the newspaper the inquiry is odd and potentially problematic, but there is disagreement over whether it’s illegal.