Authorities in Oakland, Caliif., moved to fire four police officers in the city and suspended seven others after a sexual misconduct investigation found that some had attempted sexual assault and aided prostitution, according to the office of Mayor Libby Schaaf.
The investigation focused on allegations involving police officers and a woman who has identified herself as a sex worker and said she was underage when she had sex with some officers.
‘‘I am deeply sorry for the harm that this scandal has caused, particularly to community trust, which for many was already so tenuous,’’ Schaaf said at a news conference Wednesday night.
Schaaf’s announcement does not mark an end to the scandal, which is also the subject of a criminal probe and comes at a time of intense scrutiny of law enforcement nationwide.
Oakland sent notices of intent to fire four police officers, Schaaf said. She said that the probe found that in addition to attempted sexual assault, some of these officers went into law enforcement databases for personal reasons, helped people evade arrest for prostitution, lied to investigators, and failed to report allegations of sexual contact between a minor and an Oakland police officer.
Schaaf did not name the officers, saying that she was not allowed to identify them under state law. It was not immediately clear whether any of them had hired attorneys.
Officials have previously said that two officers have resigned amid the investigation, but Schaaf’s office said that even if they have left the department, the findings will be added to their personnel files. An Oakland police officer also committed suicide last year and, according to authorities, left a suicide note naming other officers involved with the woman.
The woman told the CBS affiliate in San Francisco that she had sex with more than a dozen Oakland police officers as well as nine others from other departments. (Oakland officials say any other departments that came up as part of the probe were notified.)
She told the network that she had sex with three of the Oakland officers while underage, and said she met one while working as a prostitute. In the interview, the woman also said that she would exchange sex with officers when they tipped her off about undercover operations.
Around the same time as that interview, Oakland authorities said Sean Whent, the city’s police chief, would be stepping down. Although officials did not directly link it to the misconduct scandal, they also acknowledged ‘‘the importance of public trust in the outcome of ongoing misconduct investigations.’’
An interim police chief was named and — just five days later — was removed from the position after Schaaf said she ‘‘received information that has caused me to lose confidence’’ in his ability to lead the police ‘‘at this particular moment in time.’’
That chief, Ben Fairow, was loaned to the department by the Bay Area Rapid Transit system’s police force; the BART police chief welcomed Fairow back to his position as deputy chief and said Fairow had admitted to an affair years earlier.