Amid controversy, new interim leader appointed for Oakland schools police
Posted: 09/02/2011 07:13:23 PM PDT
Updated: 09/02/2011 08:40:10 PM PDT
The Oakland school district's small police force, which has drawn outsized attention this year for an officer-involved shooting and an alleged racist outburst by its chief, has a new interim leader.
Beginning Tuesday, Lt. James Williams, a 17-year veteran of the Oakland Housing Authority's police department, will head the Oakland school police operations while the district searches for a permanent chief, Troy Flint, the school district's spokesman, announced Friday.
"He has a reputation as a man with high integrity," Flint said.
Williams will be the second person to run the 16-officer police department since Aug. 4, when then-Chief Peter Sarna,