"Tamping reporters' sources is simply a defensive move," Thomas Peele, an East Bay Times reporter who teaches at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, wrote earlier this month. "Just word of an investigation shuts people up, making it more difficult for reporters to bring forward the most attainable version of the truth."
The East Bay Express has broken several leading developments related to the scandals involving the OPD and other law enforcement agencies. The alternative weekly's top editor calls the leak investigation "a waste of taxpayer dollars."
"The mayor and police officials were embarrassed by our reporting," said Nick Miller, the newspaper's editor-in-chief.
"It's a step backward for freedom of the press," he said. "If not for the East Bay Express' investigation into sexual misconduct by Oakland police, bad cops would never have been held accountable."
That opinion is echoed by the head of the association representing the state's newspapers.
"Targeting whistleblowers is the worst possible tactic," said Tom Newton, executive director of the California Newspaper Publishers Association. "It sends the message that leaders are attempting to both protect those engaged in alleged bad behavior and keep it from the public. with all the style of someone trying to put toothpaste back in the tube."
The leak investigation could hurt Schaaf's political career now and in the future, said James Taylor, a political science professor at the University of San Francisco.
"I think it's potentially disastrous for her, given all of the problems she's trying to manage," Taylor said. "I assume she has ambitions for the Democratic Party, and I think this is the kind of thing that can undermine those ambitions in the long run."
On June 22 city officials announced the leak probe after the Express had gotten wind of it. City Administrator Sabrina Landreth acknowledged that she hired a private investigator "to determine the source(s) of the leaks."
"Our intention is to root out misconduct and prevent cover-ups, not to silence critics or whistleblowers," the city's statement says.
The city's statement said that Landreth had hired an unspecified private investigator for the job.
In reality, the task of rooting out the leak was given to the same outside lawyer who is reviewing the OPD Internal Affairs investigation into alleged sexual misconduct by officers: Morin Jacob of the law firm Liebert Cassidy Whitmore.
The city retained Jacob on June 9. Boyd said the leak investigation is part of Jacob's larger probe into the OPD. The city is paying Jacob $75,000 for her work.
Jacob, who specializes in public safety law and internal affairs investigations and has represented the BART Police Department, did not return a request for comment.
In an interview with KQED's Newsroom two days after the city acknowledged the leak investigation, Schaaf emphasized that the leaked information could be used to weaken the city's case against someone accused of misconduct.
"Because the media has publicized a certain version of events ... a lawyer can later use that fact to discredit the testimony of the witness," Schaaf said.
The leaks could hurt the chances of city employees coming forward with valuable information, said city spokeswoman Karen Boyd.
"Our goal is to have a culture and an environment where people do feel safe and protected to come forward," Boyd said. "This isn't an investigation into whistleblowers. This is an investigation into leaks of protected confidential information."
Oakland offers several ways for city employees to come forward anonymously about problems in local government, Boyd said. They can submit a report to the city auditor or they can go straight to the woman who's running the police department.
Landreth, the city administrator, has an "open-door" policy that urges Oakland workers to speak to her directly, Boyd said. "She's made it clear she can only fix it if she's aware of it."
In fact, during executive staff meetings, Landreth has told supervisors that "retaliation will not be tolerated," Boyd said. "If people are going up the chain to her with problems that they feel need to be addressed ... she will maintain the confidentiality of those employees."
