>>22286939

>Anna Kirkpatrick refuses to acknowledge that she let the victims down by not having an appropriate security plan

Court-Appointed Monitor Who Oversees Oakland Police Department Could Have Blocked Controversial Promotions — but He Didn’t.

Robert Warshaw has the power to demote high-ranking officers and even fire the police chief.

By

Darwin BondGraham and Ali Winston

Jul 24, 2017

Robert Warshaw speaking at a community forum in Oakland in 2016. Credits: Darwin BondGraham

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Robert Warshaw speaking at a community forum in Oakland in 2016. Credits: Darwin BondGraham

Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick has declined to reconsider her controversial decision to promote two high-ranking officers who mishandled the department’s internal investigation of the Celeste Guap __sex-crimes scandal, __despite requests by civil-rights attorneys John Burris and Jim Chanin that they and others face disciplinary action.

But there’s one powerful person who could immediately block the promotions and take other steps to hold officers accountable — but has yet to do so. Robert Warshaw, former chief of police in Rochester, New York, has been Oakland’s court-appointed police monitor since 2013. He also holds the title of compliance director, and has expansive powers over the department.

Under a 2012 order by Judge Thelton Henderson, Warshaw has the authority to direct the city to deny promotions, alter assignments, and make other personnel changes if he believes they’re necessary to ensure reforms take root.

He can also discipline or demote the department’s deputy chiefs and assistant police chief if they’re responsible for violating policy, or if they refuse to implement the terms of the court-ordered reform program.

He can even fire the police chief.

But so far, Warshaw hasn’t taken any meaningful action on the mishandling of the Guap investigation.

“What role Warshaw is playing here is mysterious to me,” said Rashidah Grinage, a member of the Coalition for Police Accountability, which successfully pushed for the creation of Oakland’s new citizens police commission.

The promotions, which were announced in early May, included the elevation of Deputy Chief John Lois to the rank of assistant police chief, and Lt. Roland Holmgren to the rank of captain in charge of the criminal-investigation division.

In 2015, Lois and Holmgren directly oversaw the brief criminal investigation of several cops accused of raping and exploiting Guap when she was a teenager.

Attorneys Edward Swanson and Audrey Barron investigated OPD’s mishandling of the Guap case for Henderson and found the department’s actions “wholly inadequate.” The attorneys pointed out violations of the negotiated-settlement agreement, as well as questionable decisions made by Lois, Holmgren, and Capt. Kirk Coleman that resulted in the case’s premature closure. The officers also failed to notify other city officials, including Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, about the allegations.

Kirkpatrick also appears to have no intention to remove Coleman from his position as head of internal affairs. Swanson and Barron found that, when Coleman led the criminal-investigation division in 2015, he violated the negotiated-settlement agreement by not notifying the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office of suspected crimes by OPD officers.

If Warshaw wanted to, he could immediately suspend Lois, or demote him back to the rank of deputy chief.

Under the terms of a 2012 order issued by Henderson, Warshaw also has the power to “direct specific actions by the City or OPD,” in matters concerning promotions and assignments of officers like Holmgren and Coleman.

Swanson and Barron’s report was released in June, after Kirkpatrick announced the promotions, which were approved by Warshaw. It appears that neither Kirkpatrick nor Warshaw knew about Lois, Holmgren, Coleman, and other senior officers’ failures before Kirkpatrick announced their promotions. Swanson and Barron reported directly to Henderson — not Warshaw.

There is precedent for the compliance director asserting such power over the police department. In 2013, the East Bay Times and the Express reported that OPD Chief Howard Jordan resigned after learning that Thomas Frazier, Warshaw’s predecessor as compliance director, intended to fire him. Frazier had issued scathing reports about OPD command staff’s inability to discipline officers, particularly the widespread use of excessive force during Occupy Oakland.

>>22287227

>controversial decision to promote two high-ranking officers who mishandled the department’s internal investigation of the Celeste Guap sex-crimes scandal,

After the report’s release, during a July 10 court hearing, Chanin and Burris asked Henderson to force the city to identify all of the officers referred to in the report and impose discipline on them if they violated a city policy or any portion of the court-reform program.

Henderson declined to grant this request, but has asked the city to conduct its own “critical incident review.”

Nothing, however, appears to be tying Warshaw’s hands. But even now that he has the information contained in the Swanson-Barron report, including a complete list of who committed what policy violations, Warshaw hasn’t moved to block the promotions or demand other personnel changes, according to sources close to the department.

Sokhom Mao, who formerly chaired Oakland’s Citizen Police Review Board and has followed the department’s recent troubles, said that there appears to be an unwillingness to reverse the decisions even in light of the new information.

“We really need someone who is going to put their foot down on some of these reforms and make sure they’re implemented,” he said.

“I think he produced really good work since being compliance director,” Mao said about Warshaw. “But since [the sex crimes scandal], I don’t know if he’s really committed to the work anymore.”

Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan said she and her colleagues have not been briefed by Kirkpatrick or City Administrator Sabrina Landreth about why the promotions are being upheld. She also said Warshaw hasn’t filled the council in on his plans.

“It’s odd to me that there hasn’t been some action from him regarding the promotions of the people referred to in the court’s report,” Kaplan said of Warshaw. “That’s a concern, but I don’t yet know anything about what they’re doing.”

Kaplan said the apparent unwillingness of anyone to hold OPD brass accountable reflects a longstanding problem, whereby low-ranking officers are punished and their supervisors are not.

“There’s a systemic problem that the highest-ranked people don’t get held accountable,” she said. “As long as that continues, people don’t take serious the promise of reform.”

Kirkpatrick said at a July 10 press conference that Warshaw approved the promotions of Lois and Holmgren. In response to an email, OPD media spokesperson Officer Johnna Watson wrote that “Chief Kirkpatrick undertook a great deal of due diligence, both before and after the Swanson Barron report. Having sought input from many stakeholders, both inside and outside of the Department, and having made her own personal assessments, she stands by her promotions.”

Warshaw did not return a phone call seeking comment for this report.

This isn’t the first time members of Oakland’s City Council have questioned Warshaw’s role in overseeing OPD’s reform effort. In January, Councilmember Desley Brooks said the council wasn’t getting any information about whether or not Warshaw was actually fulfilling his duties. “We’re just being asked to reauthorize and reauthorize these contracts,” she said about an agreement to pay Warshaw.

The council briefly delayed renewal of Warshaw’s $887,076 contracts, but was reprimanded by Henderson in a January 19 order.

But even Henderson, who is set to retire next month, has been criticized for what police-accountability activists perceive as an unwillingness to do what’s necessary to change OPD.

“I don’t understand why Henderson has been so incredibly lenient in the face of these inexcusable violations,” Grinage said of the judge’s orders following this month’s court hearing. “I don’t know why the city shouldn’t have been cited long ago for contempt of court.”

https://eastbayexpress.com/court-appointed-monitor-who-oversees-oakland-police-department-could-have-blocked-controversial-promotions-but-he-didnt-2-1/

>>22287227

> Celeste Guap sex-crimes scandal,

>>22287230

Oakland Police Chief Doubles-Down on Promoting the Cops Who Covered-Up the Celeste Guap Case

After today’s court hearing, Chief Anne Kirkpatrick says court monitor ‘very pleased’ by promotions.

By

Darwin BondGraham and Ali Winston

Jul 10, 2017

Inside a federal courtroom this afternoon, the City of Oakland’s mayor and police chief reaffirmed their commitment to establishing a culture of accountability within the city’s troubled department. But after the hearing, Chief Anne Kirkpatrick told reporters that the commanders who mishandled last year’s internal sex-crimes investigation would still be receiving promotions.

In fact, when asked directly by the Express whether John Lois and Roland Holmgren would still be promoted, Kirkpatrick justified the move, saying that federal-court monitor Robert Warshaw himself signed off on the decision.

“When I made my selections, I did counsel with the federal monitor, and he indicated he was very pleased,” Kirkpatrick said.

Although Warshaw approved the promotions of Lois and Holmgren to the ranks of assistant chief and captain, respectively, it’s impossible that he knew of Lois and Holmgren’s role in the mishandling of the Guap case: When their promotions were announced on May 1, the court’s special investigation into the case wasn’t even completed yet, and its contents were a closely held secret until published on June 21. Not even Warshaw knew what was going to be in the report.

Warshaw didn’t return the Express’ phone call and text message seeking to discuss Kirkpatrick’s claim.

However, when asked this afternoon whether Warshaw was aware of attorneys Edward Swanson and Audrey Barron’s findings when he allegedly approved the promotions, Kirkpatrick responded that she was “sure the federal monitor has that information.”

The report, which was finally released last month, found that top OPD commanders and several higher-ranking officers prematurely closed the Celeste Guap case, and took other steps that were characterized as “wholly inadequate.”

The names of the officers involved in the cover-up were redacted in the report, but the Express independently identified and confirmed the individuals.

During the Guap case in 2015, Lois was deputy chief, overseeing the Bureau of Investigations, and Holmgren was the lieutenant overseeing the homicide division. Along with Capt. Kirk Coleman of the criminal-investigation division, they were the three most-senior personnel overseeing the sex-crime allegations. Their failings to sufficiently investigate officer wrongdoing were exhaustively documented in the Swanson-Barron report.

On May 2, Kirkpatrick announced the promotion of Lois to assistant chief, the second-highest post in the department. Holmgren was promoted to captain, overseeing the criminal-investigation division. And Coleman was transferred to internal affairs, where he now supervises all investigations of police misconduct.

Attorneys John Burris and Jim Chanin argued the case that led to the department’s court-oversight program. This afternoon, they told U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson that they want to see every individual cited in the Swanson-Barron report disciplined.

“I was under the illusion that the sex scandal was largely confined to the officers who committed unlawful acts and Chief Whent,” Chanin said in his statement to the court. “I now see, sadly, that what happened here was an OPD and City of Oakland system failure that went way beyond Chief Whent and the officers who engaged in crimes.”

“It may well have permeated everyone associated with the case, especially many of OPD’s command staff,” Chanin stated.

After the hearing, Burris told reporters that, if the commanders who derailed the Guap investigation are not demoted and held accountable, the impact will ripple throughout the department. “It will send a bad message, and young officers will not have confidence in the leadership,” Burris said.

>>22287244

>nternal sex-crimes

Oakland Deputy City Attorney Kimberly Bliss told the court that the city is “committed to a probing analysis of the failings identified in the report.” She said the police department will carry out a “critical incident review,” which will include all the officers referred to in the Swanson-Barron report. She said this process will result in “corrective action” and “counseling.”

But the city held back from saying they would seek discipline against the officers and department leaders.

Bliss added that the police department’s critical-incident report would include the names of all the officers mentioned in the Swanson-Barron report, but that their identities will be withheld from the public.

The Oakland Police Department’s Public Information Officer Johnna Watson called the Express this afternoon to say that Kirkpatrick’s remarks about promoting Lois and Holmgren were taken out of context and that she hadn’t heard the full question. But Watson declined to allow the Express to interview Kirkpatrick a second time to let her clarify her remarks about Warshaw’s approval of the promotions.

Judge Henderson is expected to issue an order in the case in the next several days. But during his comments this afternoon, he appeared to signal that he won’t impose the harshest penalties sought against the city, including putting its police department into receivership, or slapping city officials with contempt or monetary sanctions.

Henderson retires on August 11. He’s turning the case over to Judge William H. Orrick III, who was in the courtroom observing today’s proceedings.

Lois and Holmgren are among the officers who will be honored at an upcoming promotion ceremony at Oakland’s Scottish Rite Center.

https://eastbayexpress.com/oakland-police-chief-doubles-down-on-promoting-the-cops-who-covered-up-the-celeste-guap-case-2-1/

>>22286933

>TRUMP APPOINTS MORGAN ORTAGUS, WHO WORKED FOR POMPEO WITH A MESSAGE TO DO THE JOB THIS TIME AFTER FIGHTING HIM FOR 3 YEARS !!

After returning to the United States, Ortagus joined the private sector, first as global relationship manager at Standard Chartered Bank working with clients from Asia, the Middle East and Africa, and then in 2016 asexecutive director at Ernst & Young (EY), where she helped found EY's Geostrategic Business Group working on geopolitical risk analysis for investors.[3][10]