Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 5 January 2017

1st female Oakland police chief vows to mend community ties

PAUL ELIAS Kirkpatrick previously held fore the mayor announced
Associated Press high-ranking law enforce- that the city’s administrator
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) ment posts in Washington would take over manage-
— Oakland leaders on state, including as Spo- ment of the department
Wednesday hired an out- kane’s police chief for six until a permanent chief
sider and the first woman years through 2012. The was hired.
to run and reform the city’s city hired her to reform a The police force has been
troubled police depart- department rocked by a under federal court super-
ment that cycled through police brutality scandal. vision since the 2003 settle-
three chiefs in as many Along the way, she earned ment of a civil rights lawsuit
weeks this summer after a law degree at Seattle that accused officers of
several officers were impli- University. planting evidence, beating
cated in a sex-abuse scan- Kirkpatrick will bring her suspects and other wrong-
dal with an underage girl. background in reform to doing.
Mayor Libby Schaaf called an agency dogged by a Under former Chief Sean
Anne Kirkpatrick “the re- Newly named Oakland Chief of Police Anne Kirkpatrick gestures scandal that ensnared two
form-minded leader that while speaking during a media conference Wednesday, Jan. 4, dozen officers throughout Whent, the city was close
Oakland has been search- 2017, in Oakland, Calif. the San Francisco Bay Area to shedding court oversight
ing for.” She takes over a Associated Press accused of having sex with when the sex scandal de-
police force under federal Speaking with a distinct trust zone” and needs “to the teen daughter of an railed the department’s
court oversight since 2003 southern drawl, Kirkpatrick break down barriers.” Oakland dispatcher. reform process and forced
and without a chief for sev- vowed to rebuild dam- Whitaker said she’s optimis- About a dozen Oakland Whent to resign.
en months. aged relations with Oak- tic that Kirkpatrick, who is officers resigned, were Bay Area Rapid Transit
Kirkpatrick began her 34- land’s significant black white, has the experience suspended or were impli- Deputy Chief Ben Fairow
year policing career in her community while working to succeed in Oakland but cated in the scandal, and was appointed to replace
native Memphis, Tennes- to revitalize a demoralized the community “will hold seven current and former Whent but resigned shortly
see, and has risen to lead rank-and-file force. her accountable” if she Bay Area officers faced afterward when news of
four different departments. “I’m interested in transfor- fails. criminal charges. an extramarital affair sur-
She has a track record of mation,” Kirkpatrick said. Sgt. Barry Donlan, head The teen has told The Asso- faced.
trying to overhaul troubled She offered few specifics of of the officers’ union, said ciated Press and other me- Oakland Deputy Chief Paul
police agencies. her plans but said, “I don’t “Oakland’s hard-working dia outlets that she worked Figueroa agreed to act as
Chicago hired her six consider it a mess,” when police officers look forward as a 17-year-old prostitute interim chief but stepped
months ago to lead an ef- asked about taking over to working collaboratively and had sex with two doz- down two days later for un-
fort to oversee police re- the embattled depart- with Chief Kirkpatrick in en officers, sometimes in known reasons. Figueroa
forms. She was a finalist for ment. “It’s an opportunity.” serving our community.” exchange for tips on prosti- was then demoted to
chief after a video showing Maya Whitaker, a black She joins a rare slate of fe- tution stings and protection captain, and manage-
an officer fatally shooting community organizer who male leaders of a large from arrest. ment of the department
a black teenager 16 times helped with the job search, city. Oakland’s mayor, fire The allegations led to Oak- was turned over to the city
led to the superintendent’s said the new chief is aware chief and city administrator land cycling through three administrator.q
firing. that she is entering a “no- are all women. police chiefs in June be-
Train crashes at end of platform; 100 people injured

NEW YORK (AP) — A packed ing, holding ice packs on sey Transit commuter train
Long Island Rail Road rush their heads, rising and limp- plowed off the end of
hour train crashed at the ing away with help from a track, killing a woman
end of a platform as it rescuers. standing in the station. Fed-
pulled into a major trans- “The entire structure start- eral investigators are ex-
portation hub on Wednes- ed shaking,” said Steben amining whether a more
day, hurling passengers Medina, who was hav- modern bumper or other
onto the floor and slam- ing coffee at the terminal barriers could have made
ming them into each other. when he heard the crash a difference.
The front of the slow-mov- and screams. “I thought The train in Wednesday’s
ing train hit a bumping a bomb had gone off or wreck originated in the
block as it pulled into At- something.” Far Rockaway section of
lantic Terminal in Brooklyn, Democratic Gov. Andrew Queens and was carrying
left the tracks and smashed Cuomo said: “Luckily ... all around 450 people, offi-
into a small structure, ap- things considered, this was cials said.
parently a work area. A rail a relatively minor acci- “People just went flying,” An injured passenger is taken from the Atlantic Terminal in the
pierced the floor of a train dent.” passenger Donette Smith Brooklyn borough of New York after a Long Island Rail Road train
car, authorities said. The terminal is beneath a told The New York Times. “It hit a bumping block, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017.
About 100 people were shopping mall in down- was very scary.” Associated Press
treated for minor injuries town Brooklyn, next to the The National Transportation have been recovered and that controls it coming in
after the 8:30 a.m. crash. Barclays Center, home to Safety Board dispatched the train’s engineer has un- at limited speeds. But when
Many had been standing Brooklyn Nets basketball, investigators. NTSB investi- dergone drug testing. The you’re getting to the end
as they prepared to get off New York Islanders hockey gator Jim Southworth said results of that testing aren’t it’s the locomotive engi-
the train at the last stop. and major concerts. it will take three to seven known yet. neer’s responsibility. And
Some people were re- A similar accident in near- days to investigate the ac- Metropolitan Transporta- the train’s brakes have to
moved on stretchers. Oth- by Hoboken, New Jersey, cident scene before they tion Authority Chairman work. All those things have
ers sat, stunned, on the in September was much determine what caused it. Thomas Prendergast said to be looked at in the
pavement outside, bleed- worse. There, a New Jer- He said event recorders there is “a signal system investigation.”q