OAKLAND (KRON) — An Oakland police officer has been placed on administrative leave in an incident unrelated to the ongoing sexual misconduct investigation, according to Ofc. Johnna Watson.
Watson would not elaborate on why the officer was put on leave.
“The Oakland Police Department is committed to transparency. However, a complete investigative process requires confidentiality in order to maintain the integrity of the investigation. For this reason, only those preliminary details that do not compromise the investigation can be released at this time,” Watson said.
“The Oakland Police Department holds all employees accountable for their actions both on and off duty. The Oakland Police Department will not tolerate misconduct of any kind from its employees. Ensuring internal investigations are swift, fair, and objective is our priority,” Watson added.
The announcement that the first officer was placed on leave was made by Mayor Libby Schaaf on Thursday night.
Schaaf said, “We are still not at liberty to discuss details of any ongoing investigation without risking compromise of the investigation and potentially jeopardizing our efforts to hold wrongdoers accountable.”
But Schaaf said the investigation is not related to an ongoing scandal in which Oakland police officers, as well as officers from many other law enforcement agencies, allegedly had sexual relationships with a teenage sex worker, with at least some of the encounters occurring before she turned 18.
Oakland police also said the investigation isn’t connected to the sexual misconduct probe.
Stay with KRON for updates on this breaking news story on-air, online, and on the KRON4 app.Bay City News contributed to this report.