Bay Area

Statement By Chief LeRonne Armstrong

As the Police Chief, I did my job, and I did it well. I committed no misconduct, I followed all relevant policies and procedures, and I delivered on my promise to implement reforms to bring the City to the goal line of ending federal oversight.

Published

2 years ago

February 18, 2023

Oakland Post

Chief LeRonne Armstrong

I was wrongly terminated for standing up for the City of Oakland. As the Police Chief, I did my job, and I did it well. I committed no misconduct, I followed all relevant policies and procedures, and I delivered on my promise to implement reforms to bring the City to the goal line of ending federal oversight.
But my termination was never really about the facts of my performance or my ability to lead effectively. My termination was about Federal Monitor Robert Warshaw, and the Mayor’s failure to fight for the Oakland community.
Mr. Warshaw’s history and incentives are crystal clear. It is the elephant in the room. He is supposed to be neutral, but he is not. It’s in the best interest of his pocketbook to conclude that every error at the Police Department is a scandal that reaches all the way to the top of the organization, and to write sensational reports about it — all at Oakland taxpayers’ expense. His conclusions need to be taken with a very big grain of salt, and scrutinized to be sure that they are backed by evidence and that they make sense.
When I pointed that out – the Mayor fired me.
I have read news reports describing the Mayor’s decision to fire me as “bold.” The reality is the complete opposite.
She did the easy thing. She accepted the Monitor’s conclusions at face value without weighing the evidence and without asking the hard questions that needed to be asked about the holes in those reports. And she put the City on a path to accepting invalid criticism that could justify more oversight, more checks paid to Robert Warshaw, and instability in a critical public safety role during a time of real public safety problems in Oakland.
In the process, the Mayor shut out critical input from other key stakeholders like the Police Commission, which has rightly commented that there are serious questions about the “credibility and quality” of the Monitor’s reports. Worse, she ignored the Oakland community.
The Mayor promised to bring the community together, listen to their voices, and earn their trust. But as soon as I was placed on leave, the community spoke – loudly – that I had earned their trust and I should be the Chief to finish what I started in implementing critical public safety reforms. I continue to be humbled and grateful for that community support, which unfortunately fell on deaf ears at the Mayor’s office.
Oakland needs leadership willing to stand up for its citizens and willing to push back on efforts by outsiders to unfairly criticize the progress the City has made. It was a privilege to serve this community for over twenty years, and I regret that my opportunity to take the Police Department across the finish line was wrongly denied me. Oakland deserves better.
Lastly, I want to thank and appreciate the hardworking women and men of the Oakland Police Department. I asked you to trust me and to police the community differently. Treating everyone with dignity and respect. You did! You have highest respect!

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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

2 weeks 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.