The two private attorneys who play a key role in the oversight of the Oakland Police Department plan to argue next week that OPD has failed to hold commanders in the department accountable for mishandling the Celeste Guap sex abuse case.
In a brief submitted to federal court yesterday,attorneys John Burris and Jim Chanin wrote that they "fundamentally disagree with the OPD's decision not to hold individual supervisors and commanders accountable through the disciplinary process for the deficiencies identified in the Swanson report."
As the Express has previously reported, the Swanson report was an examination of how the Oakland police botched the first criminal and internal affairs investigations of multiple cops who sexually exploited an underage girl known as Celeste Guap. In the report by court-appointed attorney Edward Swanson, and several tall-ranking OPD supervisors were shown to hold taken steps that led to the premature closure of these cases.
The City of Oakland is due back in federal court on Oct. 2 for a hearing that will consider whether the Oakland police adequately responded to the sex crime scandal that rocked the department last year,among other issues.
The city released its "Critical Incident Review" of the sex crimes scandal earlier this month, notifying the public and court that it will not be imposing discipline on any more officers, or including the police supervisors who mishandled the Guap case.
Last week,OPD Chief Anne Kirkpatrick directed blame at former Chief Sean Whent for the failed investigations that resulted in a virtual coverup until the court-appointed Police Monitor Robert Warshaw learned of the investigations and intervened.…
Source: eastbayexpress.com