Oakland Police Union Calls on Mayor Sheng Thao to Resign

OAKLAND — In their strongest comments yet, Oakland police union leaders on Tuesday called on Mayor Sheng Thao to resign immediately and said they would support efforts to recall her if she does not step down.

The four-member Oakland Police Officers Association board, led by President Huy Nguyen and Vice President Tim Dolan, voted unanimously to demand Thao’s resignation, according to a letter to the mayor made public Tuesday.

“We are a joke, not only in the state, but in the country and the world. We have to change the state of the city,” Sergeant Nguyen said at a news conference Tuesday.

Nguyen and Dolan, also a police sergeant, cited violent crime, understaffing in the police department, the city’s uncertain financial future and the recent FBI raid on Thao’s Oakland home as reasons why Oakland needs new leadership.

According to OPOA’s letter to Thao, the department currently has 678 officers but needs between 1,000 and 1,200 fully staffed and equipped officers to respond to the high volume of calls they receive each day.

In a statement, Thao said the budget passed last month “prioritized public safety by funding two new police academies and preventing the elimination of more than 80 police positions.” The mayor also boasted about “significant reductions in assaults, shootings and homicides.”

“I call on the four-member executive team of the Oakland Police Officers Association to join me in celebrating this accomplishment, rather than trying to scare the public with misinformation and lies,” Thao said in a statement.

Thao’s spokesman said the “mayor has no plans to resign.”

Nguyen said that if Thao does not step down, the association plans to fully support the recall campaign, which qualifies for the Nov. 5 ballot after enough signatures are collected and verified.

While Oakland was struggling with budget problems and high crime before Thao took office early last year, Nguyen said the city had mishandled a state retail theft grant, which has continued under Thao’s watch, as has a string of violent crimes, including a shooting that injured four people at a large show last weekend. And while crimes against people are down from previous years, Nguyen said the data on property crimes is at least four months out of date.

Police union leaders, who represent hundreds of officers, called the FBI raid on Thao’s home on June 20 a “turning point.” Since the June 20 raids, Thao has faced similar calls to resign from recall leaders. Thao has repeatedly said she is innocent and is not the target of the federal investigation, which is still ongoing.

The union leaders were joined Tuesday by union spokesman Sam Singer, who also represents LeRonne Armstrong, the Oakland police chief fired by Thao last year. Armstrong is running for a seat on the city council in the general election this fall.

“In addition to the devastating, unchecked violence and crime, the City of Oakland is currently in a financial crisis, and if it goes bankrupt, it will only further worsen public safety,” the letter to Thao reads. “With each passing day that you are in office, Oakland is less safe. Your administration has turned Oakland into an international embarrassment.”

Originally published: August 6, 2024 at 4:16 PM