This is a perfect example of a horribly toxic work environment. It seems the Oakland Police Dept. isn’t only mired by bigoted racism, as was found in a Stanford study referenced in this article. The fact that an alleged 28 police officers in the area had relations with an underage prostitute, leading to the resignation of three police chiefs in 10 days, is evocative of one of the worst varieties of workplace poisonousness. How many other officers knew of this behavior, and were compelled to stay silent? How many participated in this behavior because they were compelled to? Finally, how many upper level officers looked the other way? Beyond a cultural transformation, everyone in a supervisory level who was aware (or should have been aware) needs to be fired. You can read more about this horrible situation at NPR.
Photo: Former Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent, who was the first chief to resign over the accusations. Josh Edelson for Getty Images via NPR.