Bay Area

Once Again, Community Demands Reinstatement of OPD Chief LeRonne Armstrong

Armstrong says there’s a sense of fairness that should be considered due to his track record. “This is not a sport; this is a community in desperate need of public safety…This is a community that has been asking the police department to police the community differently, to build trust and that’s what I’ve been doing. So, any coach should see, based on my track record, I’ve done just that. This department is not the same department as it was 10-20 years ago, and it’s because of the recent leadership.”

Published

2 years ago

February 15, 2023

Oakland Post

At a press conference held in the Madeline Senegal Fellowship Meeting Room on Sunday at Acts Full Gospel Church of God in Christ in East Oakland, Chief of Police LeRonne Armstrong with community and NAACP support address the media. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

After its Sunday service, Acts Full Gospel Church of God in Christ hosted a press conference by the Oakland NAACP in their continued support of reinstating Oakland’s Chief of Police LeRonne Armstrong.

Armstrong was placed on administrative leave last month pending a report accusing him of not holding an Oakland officer accountable for misconduct. In the church’s Madeline Senegal fellowship meeting room, a dozen media outlets heard directly from Armstrong, the Oakland NAACP, and questions from community members.

Armstrong said that additional information from the federal monitor being reviewed by the mayor shows that the conclusions in the summary report leading to his suspension are inaccurate and lack evidentiary support.

“The situation defies common logic,” said Armstrong. “A policy that says the investigation should not be discussed with anyone in an investigation that determined the chief should have known by policy he had no right to know…There’s a reason why the Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA) has a clause that says that the IAD (Internal Affairs Division) cannot be located within the OPD. It is located in Frank Ogawa Plaza because an NSA mandates that there’s independence between the departments.”

Armstrong said, “I deserve to be in this position of chief of police, as someone born and raised in Oakland, raised in poverty. As someone who has struggled and come from poverty to make it to the chief of police…but to have someone tarnish my reputation, tarnish the beliefs of my family and friends in this community is unacceptable.”

Armstrong also expressed that he has brought OPD closer to the end of federal oversight than any other chief previously. The OPD has been under federal oversight for two decades since 2003, pending compliance with 52 reforms negotiated in a settlement agreement including racial profiling and reporting practices about the use of force.

The appointed federal monitor, Robert Warshaw, is paid $100,000 a month according to reports, which amounts to $1.2 million annually to oversee and ensure that the OPD remains compliant.

With just months away from the end of federal oversight, Armstrong’s supporters call into question placing Armstrong on leave and that the overall investigation may be a ploy to extend the oversight and allow Warshaw to remain on a lucrative payroll.

“I believe in holding officers accountable when the information is presented to me, but, in this case, that information was not brought to me, so I was not able to take the proper action. If I’d have had the information, I would have launched a full investigation,” said Armstrong.

Armstrong says he’s worked toward building a department that polices professionally and constitutionally.

“I have worked hard to change the way the community views the department because when I was growing up, we didn’t like it: We hated it, and we feared it.”

Armstrong has served the police department his entire adult life, promoting volunteering, giving back and treating people with dignity and respect. As chief, he encouraged this culture and is proudest of reducing stops of African Americans by 65%.

“This is a huge deal because less Black people being touched by law enforcement lowers the risk of the violence we’ve seen across the country. And so, when you can minimize the opportunities for the interaction of law enforcement and African American men in particular, you can reduce the number of violent incidents. I believe we can focus on crime, but not over-police certain communities,” he said.

A church member said, “We have had way too many chiefs in the last decade that have been relieved of their duties, yet we have the same monitor who appears to have made a small fortune.”

Former Chief Assistant District Attorney of Alameda County Terry Wiley supports the chief and said he has known Armstrong for 30 years and characterized him as a “tremendous leader.

“He is a man of integrity, with a highly decorated career as a police officer,” said Wiley. “It says a lot when the African American, Asian and Hispanic community join forces as a collective to say that we want the chief reinstated because he did not do anything wrong. We don’t want to see his career tarnished and he does not deserve the treatment he is receiving. We are here to ask the mayor to reconsider her actions and reinstate the chief.”

“On behalf of the community, the Oakland NAACP, we are asking the mayor, again, again, and again to reinstate the chief,” said Oakland NAACP President Cynthia Adams. “The voters are also asking you, mayor. Listen to the voters, listen to your community; they are asking you to reinstate the chief. Bring the chief back to his duties. Please bring him back to where he needs to be in Oakland.”

A response from Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao has yet to be received.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

3 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

1 week ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.