OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – The interim police chief in Oakland, California, was abruptly removed after six days on the job Wednesday amid a widening sex scandal that the city’s mayor said involved “disgusting allegations” that a number of officers had sex with a teenage prostitute.
Mayor Libby Schaaf said new information she received Monday led her to lose confidence in Ben Fairow’s ability to lead the beleaguered department. She appointed Fairow, an assistant chief for the regional transit system who previously spent 21 years as an officer in Oakland, after Chief Sean Whent resigned last Thursday.
The mayor said she should have taken more time to vet Fairow and called his appointment a mistake, but said state personnel laws prohibited her from elaborating on why she felt compelled to remove him.
“I own the mistake I made. The important thing is I’m trying to fix it and fix it quickly,” she said.
Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Chief Kenton Rainey said later Wednesday he had welcomed Fairow back to his department and that Fairow had informed him he had an affair with a consenting adult while married more than a decade ago.