By Matthew Artz Contra Costa Times
OAKLAND, Calif. — An Oakland police officer is facing a 30-day suspension for concealing his nameplate with black tape during an Occupy protest, and the lieutenant who removed the tape has been demoted for not properly documenting the incident.
Officer John Hargraves remains on duty while contesting the suspension issued early last month, department sources said. But Lt. Clifford Wong was unable to challenge his demotion to sergeant.
They are the first officers known to be disciplined in connection with Occupy Oakland protests, although several officers remain under investigation for a variety of incidents.
"The actual punishment is, I think, appropriate under the circumstances, but the real issue for us is why (Hargraves) felt that he could do this with impunity," said attorney James Chanin, who had asked a federal judge to take action against the police department over the incident.
State law requires that internal police discipline remain confidential, and the officers’ attorney, Justin Buffington, said he was "outraged that there has been a leak and these officers have had their rights violated."
Hargraves is entitled to contest the suspension — a process that can take over a year. Wong was still in a probationary period as lieutenant, so he couldn’t contest the demotion, department sources said.
A video posted online shows Hargraves deployed outside police headquarters shortly after 9 p.m. during the Nov. 2 Occupy protests, when Terrence Jerod Williams approached with a video camera and asked about the tape covering the nameplate on Hargraves’ uniform.
The officer refused to respond, and Williams then spoke to Wong, who talked to the officer and removed the tape.
Hargraves concealed his nameplate because he had heard that another officer videotaped by Occupy protesters later had personal information posted online "along with calls for violence against that officer and his family," according to court papers.
The incident comes after the Oakland Police Department has struggled to implement all of the reforms stipulated in a 2003 settlement of a civil case concerning a group of rogue officers known as The Riders.
Chanin and attorney John Burris, who both represented the plaintiffs in the Riders case, filed a complaint about the nameplate incident with Judge Thelton Henderson, stating that it showed police still were ignoring the stipulated reforms.
Although Wong noted the incident in a complaint-tracking system, the attorneys wrote that he violated policies by not reporting Hargraves’ conduct to Internal Affairs and not informing the Williams of his right to file a complaint.
Copyright 2012 Contra Costa Newspapers
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