The Latest: Mayor says Oakland chief made choice to quit

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Latest on the resignation of the police chief in Oakland, California (all times local):

10:40 a.m.

Oakland’s mayor says the chief of the California city’s troubled police department made a personal choice to resign.

Mayor Libby Schaaf, meeting with reporters on Friday, gave no specific reason for the surprise overnight resignation by Chief Sean Whent.

Whent’s resignation came amid investigations into allegations that city police officers had sex with an underage girl.

Two officers have resigned and two others are on paid leave in the case, and prosecutors are reviewing how the police department carried out its own investigation into the allegations.

Oakland police have been under supervision of court-appointed monitors since 2003, after repeated corruption scandals.

Schaaf credited Whent for “incredible strides to rebuild trust in the department.”

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9:30 a.m.

Oakland Police Chief Sean Whent has resigned amid a spate of police misconduct cases.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1UkTh0w ) that Mayor Libby Schaaf announced Thursday night that Whent was stepping down after a two-decade career with the department.

Whent, who became the department’s head in May of 2014, will be replaced by Benson H. Fairow, who is currently the deputy police chief at BART.

A search will be done for a permanent replacement.

No reason was given for Whent’s resignation, but Schaaf called it a “personal choice,” in a statement announcing the resignation.

The historically troubled department is in the midst of an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by Oakland police officers. They are said to have been involved in sexual misconduct with a woman who may have been underage during the alleged encounters. Four officers are currently on leave in the case.

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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com