Oakland mayor bungled police sex misconduct probe, court investigator says
A court-appointed California investigator has blamed Oakland’s mayor and the city’s former police chief for mishandling and downplaying a sexual misconduct scandal in the city’s police department.
Investigator Ed Swanson in documents filed in court Wednesday put much of the blame on former Police Chief Sean Whent but also singled out Mayor Libby Schaaf for failing to monitor the case after she vowed dramatic reforms.
Swanson’s report faulted police for failing to launch a serious investigation into a teenager’s claims she had sex with as many as two dozen officers starting when she was 16.
The city paid the victim almost $1 million to settle her legal claims. Seven current and former officers face criminal charges.
Schaaf’s spokesman, Michael Hunt, did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment on the report Wednesday.
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