ONLY ON ABC7NEWS.COM: Former Oakland top cop Howard Jordan speaks out on current scandal plaguing department

ByLaura Anthony KGO logo

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Former Oakland Police Chief speaks out on current scandals plaguing department

Former Chief of the Oakland Police Department is speaking out on the massive scandal rocking that department.

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- A former Chief of the Oakland Police Department is speaking out on the massive scandal currently rocking the department.

Former Oakland Chief Howard Jordan hasn't been the head of the Oakland Police Department for three years, but he says the current scandals have rocked him to the core.

"I'm deeply embarrassed and ashamed," Jordan said. "It's very unsettling. It's very embarrassing to say the least for the people who are still there, even the ones who are retired, like myself, to have to explain the actions of a few."

So far, five Oakland officers have been placed on leave, two of those have resigned amid allegations of sex with an underage prostitute, racist texts and other illegal behavior on the part of officers, some of them high ranking.

And now, acting assistant Chief David Downing has come under fire for suggesting a year ago that "water cannons" could be used on protesters, a comment that Mayor Libby Schaaf says was taken out of context and not racially motivated.

Civil rights attorney John Burris doesn't think the focus right now should be on Downing.

"I don't want to go down that road, that's very junior highish to me," Burris said. "I'm much more concerned about who the new chief is going to be. I want a reform-minded chief and I want a new command staff."

Downing said in a press release: "I did not intend to suggest that such a method would ever be appropriate in Oakland, or any other community, as a legitimate crowd control method."