An Oakland police officer is suing the city, alleging that he was wrongfully placed on leave, retaliated against and ostracized for blowing the whistle in a police-brutality case that led to a popular officer being terminated by the department.
Officer Chris Yanke, a 16-year veteran, said in the suit that he broke the police "code of silence" several years ago when he "truthfully reported criminal misconduct and police brutality by a fellow OPD officer who was well-liked, which resulted in that officer's termination." The officer in question was not identified.
After Yanke came forward with the allegations, he was removed from the department's technology unit and placed on unpaid leave in 2006 on the grounds of insubordination, said the civil rights suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
The city had rejected a claim previously filed by Yanke but has not responded to the suit in court. Attorneys representing the city did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.
Yanke was briefly stripped of his badge and gun, the suit said. Although he currently retains his status as a peace officer, Yanke was placed on unpaid leave last year without due process, the suit said. The city "completely cut off his vested and protected property interest in his salary and benefits," the suit said.
The suit names as defendants the city, Police Chief Wayne Tucker, Lt. Ken Parris, formerly of the personnel division, and Debra Taylor Johnson, director of administration for the Oakland police.
Also named is Dr. Stephen Raffle of Kentfield, whom Yanke accuses of wrongfully deeming him unfit for duty. The city-hired Raffle performed a psychiatric evaluation of the officer but said Yanke failed to cooperate when he didn't complete a 600-question true/false test, the suit said.
Yanke said that his failure to complete the test was inadvertent and that his repeated offers to finish it went ignored. Raffle did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.
Yanke, the son of a retired Oakland police officer, is a licensed pilot who has previously patrolled the skies of Oakland in the police helicopter, called Argus.
He has been the subject of scrutiny before.
In 1996, a California Highway Patrol officer accused Yanke and another officer of wrongfully arresting him during a car stop. A federal judge cleared Yanke of any wrongdoing, saying the CHP officer had been intoxicated.
Yanke's suit comes as Oakland city and police officials plan to appear Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson, who is overseeing department reforms in the wake of the Riders scandal. That scandal involved a group of officers that was accused of planting evidence and beating suspects in West Oakland.
Two criminal trials of three former officers ended in mistrials. The case led to a $10.5 million civil settlement with citizens who said they were abused by the Riders, and a court order mandating the reforms Henderson is now overseeing.
In a court filing last week, plaintiffs' attorneys John Burris and Jim Chanin said the department's internal affairs division is failing to complete investigations under the reform effort in a timely manner. The attorneys also voiced concern with a "significant number" of training officers who had been sued for civil-rights violations.
Gregory Fox, a San Francisco attorney representing the city, wrote in court papers that the department "continues to make significant progress" under the terms of the Riders settlement.
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Yeah, good job...get rid of the officer that's doing the right thing. I hope this officer sues the shit out of them and wins every fucking dime he can get. Kudos to you Officer Chris Yanke
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