An Oakland police lieutenant has been demoted and an officer is facing a one-month suspension because the officer was videotaped at a recent Occupy Oakland protest with the name on his uniform covered by black tape, sources said Wednesday.
Officer John Hargraves, who has been with the Police Department for five years, covered his first initial and last name while providing security at police headquarters during the Nov. 2 general strike, a video shot by Terrence Jerod Williams showed.
In the video, Williams told Hargraves, "It's kind of weird that you actually are not showing your name. Why is that? Simple question."
Hargraves did not respond. Williams then approached Lt. Clifford Wong, who was standing with other officers outside the building on Seventh Street downtown. After an inaudible conversation between Hargraves and Wong, Wong removed the tape.
After an internal investigation, Hargraves was ordered suspended for 30 days, and Wong was demoted to sergeant for failing to report the incident to internal affairs, said the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because the department considers the case a confidential personnel matter.
Hargraves remains on the job while he appeals the suspension.
State law requires on-duty, uniformed police officers to display their names or identification numbers.
In court papers, Hargraves wrote that he had covered his name moments before the video operator came up to him. Hargraves said a watch commander had reported a day or two earlier that the name, home address and identities of family members of an officer from another agency had been posted on the Internet after Occupy protesters videotaped the officer.
"The video involving that other officer also called for violence against the officer, including burning down his home," Hargraves wrote. "This caused me great concern for the safety of my family."
But civil rights attorney Jim Chanin said Wednesday, "That's like saying that you can steal from a store because you're poor. If you take that to its logical conclusion, every police officer every day faces possible exposure and danger because their names are on their badges."
Chanin added, "Officer Hargraves could have asked to get an undercover assignment. He could have asked to be taken off duty that day. Instead, he decided to go and get his pay and violate the law. There's no excuse for that."
Chanin represented civil plaintiffs in the Oakland "Riders" police misconduct scandal that led to a $10.5 million civil settlement and a federal consent decree mandating department reforms.
Chanin said the city should pay monetary sanctions for Hargraves' actions because the name-badge issue shows "these reforms have yet to sufficiently penetrate through the Oakland Police Department."
Four officers in the Riders case were fired after being accused of beating up or framing suspects in West Oakland in 2000. Three officers were tried twice but never convicted. A fourth remains a fugitive.
Attorneys squabbled over the name-badge issue at a hearing Monday before U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson in San Francisco, who is overseeing the decree. City officials argued that sanctions were unnecessary because the officers had already been disciplined.
Henderson said he would rule on sanctions at a later date.
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