Almost 50 Bay Area deputies ruled unfit to carry firearms after audit finds failed psych exams

California’s Alameda County has stripped 47 sheriff’s department deputies of the authorization to carry a weapon and make arrests after an audit turned up failed psychological examinations.

The audit, which covered exams from January 2016 to the present, was prompted by the Sept. 7 arrest of Deputy Devin Williams Jr., who is accused of killing an Alameda County married couple after becoming romantically involved with the wife.

Sheriff Greg Ahern told the affected officers in a letter on Friday that “you will retain your pay and benefits and still work, but in the meantime … you will not be authorized to carry a firearm and you cannot make arrests based on probable cause, issue traffic citations or perform any function reserved for peace officers.”

The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, according to the letter, plans to have new evaluations done for the affected officers so as to get them back out on the beat.

“A candidate who receives a ’not suited’ psychological evaluation has the right to obtain a second opinion, and in the event that second opinion is ’suitable’ then the hiring authority, the Sheriff, can choose to hire the candidate,” the letter explains.

The rest of the department has also closed ranks to support the 47 deputies stricken from peace officer duty.

KTVU, a Fox news station in Oakland, reported that a memo sent to officers at the Santa Rita Jail on Monday quotes an unnamed captain who said “these deputies in question have done nothing wrong. We know these people and work alongside them… The Sheriff’s Office Administration and Deputy Sheriff’s Association are hopeful this sensitive matter will be rectified.”

Other interested parties, including public defender Brendon Woods and community groups, are less sanguine. Mr. Woods has called for the names of the 47 deputies to be made publicly available.

“If they’re not properly hired and not properly fit to do their jobs, we can’t trust them to do those things … We can’t rely on anything they’ve said,” Mr. Woods told KTVU, adding that, in cases where an affected deputy offered critical testimony, “those cases really should be dismissed, or reversed.”

ACSO spokesperson Lt. Ray Kelly stressed that the decision to remove the officers — about 10% of the department — from active duty does not mean the deputies are “killers.”

“I know that people are going to assume that all these deputies are killers. But that’s not true… I know this isn’t good. But it’s not as bad as it sounds,” Lt. Kelly told The Associated Press.

Jose Bernal, a spokesperson for the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, lambasted the ACSO.

“This further highlights the egregious levels of dysfunction and corruption that have plagued the Sheriff’s Office for years,” Mr. Bernal said, according to the Los Angeles Times.