Oakland Loses 3rd Top Cop in 8 Days

Oakland has gone through three top cops in nine days and the revolving door at police headquarters is now closed. When Acting Chief Paul Figueroa stepped down on Friday after just two days in the job, Mayor Libby Schaff said the department is going to be put under civilian control and she is "hoping to not have to fire anyone else anytime soon," the Los Angeles Times reports. Figueroa's predecessor, Ben Fairow, was fired after six days. Schaaf told reporters that putting the department under civilian oversight will "send a clear message about not tolerating misconduct, and to root out what is clearly a toxic, macho culture."

"I am here to run a police department, not a frat house," she said. The mayor said Figueroa's departure was not connected to a growing scandal involving underage sex and murder, or to an emerging scandal involving racist text messages. Schaff said the text messages—sent by African-American officers—were "wholly inappropriate and not acceptable from anyone who wears the badge of the Oakland Police Department." The San Francisco Chronicle reports that yet another Oakland police scandal emerged earlier Friday, when veteran officer Mike Gantt was accused of letting his girlfriend write some of his reports. She allegedly shared confidential information about the cases on social media. (More Oakland stories.)