Ousted Oakland Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick filed a claim against the city and the civilian commissioners who fired her, alleging a series of misconduct and legal violations, her publicist and legal team announced on Wednesday.
Kirkpatrick’s attorney, Jamie Slaughter of Keker Van Nest & Peters, said she had "raised alarms" about these issues seven times, but her reports went "largely unheeded" until she was fired in February "in retaliation for blowing the whistle."
“This police commission exceeds their powers, exceeded their authority and regularly tried to interfere with day to day operations of the department, regularly sought information that was protected by law and regularly sought favors and personal benefits for themselves,” Slaughter said. “This police commission is simply out of control and they fired her because she refused to go along with their efforts to exceed their own authority.”
Slaughter also said Kirkpatrick and command staff were subject to intimidation by members of the board.
“If a member of the Oakland Police Department treated a member of the public the way this commission has treated the chief and command staff, that police officer would be reprimanded or fired immediately,” Slaughter said.
Watch the full interview here.