The FBI has opened an inquiry into circumstances surrounding a 2000 arrest in which Oakland police officers allegedly repeatedly kicked a suspect in custody, causing injuries that led to the man’s death.

The commander who oversaw the April 2000 arrest and is said to have participated in the beating – Capt. Ed Poulson, the department’s head of Internal Affairs – was placed on paid administrative leave Thursday, pending the conclusion of the investigation, sources said.

Police Chief Wayne Tucker, who has been grappling with one department scandal after another, issued a statement upholding the integrity of the department.

“The men and women who put on the uniform and represent the city are held to high standards of ethical conduct and performance,” Tucker said.

“Please do not allow recent allegations of misconduct to overshadow the successful policing efforts achieved by Oakland Police Department personnel on a daily basis.”

The department has come under scrutiny for how it handled the shooting death of journalist Chauncey Bailey and allegations that officers falsified search warrants. Federal investigators are also looking into whether former City Administrator Deborah Edgerly interfered with a police investigation into a violent west Oakland gang that her nephew allegedly was a member of.

Read that whole story here.

Then there’s this story of a 15 year old boy shooting another boy and killing him:

A 15-year-old boy was arrested early Friday on suspicion of murder in the shooting death of a Danville teenager, a killing that investigators believe was drug-related, police said.

The suspect, an Alameda County boy whose name was not released because of his age, was arrested shortly before 2 a.m. at a relative’s home in Oakland. He was being held at Contra Costa County Juvenile Hall in Martinez in the slaying of Rylan Fuchs, 17, said Danville Police Chief Chris Wenzel.

The jailed teenager attended San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, where Fuchs was a senior, from March until September, when he transferred to Monte Vista High School across town, said Terry Koehne, spokesman for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District.

Students at Monte Vista High said he had recently been expelled, although the reason was unclear. Koehne would say only that the suspect “left the district” Oct. 14 and began attending Buena Vista Education Center, located at the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Center in San Leandro.

Alameda County officials say most youths at the school are in custody, but they could not say why the 15-year-old was going there.

Fuchs was found shot in the throat on the front porch of his home on the 1000 block of El Capitan Drive about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday.

Read that whole story here.

Then you have a police chase just this past Monday where five officers were injured chasing a stolen minivan:

Five Oakland police officers were injured Monday when two patrol cars collided while chasing a stolen minivan in West Oakland, authorities said.

The crash happened shortly after 12:45 p.m. at 16th and Peralta streets as officers were chasing a stolen 2007 Kia minivan, said police spokesman Officer Jeff Thomason.

Four officers were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, and a fifth was treated at the scene, Thomason said.

The chase continued for a few minutes after the crash, but the minivan driver escaped.

The chase began as a large contingent of BART and Oakland police officers were monitoring a peaceful West Oakland protest over the fatal New Year’s Day shooting of 22-year-old Oscar Grant by a BART police officer at the Fruitvale BART station.

Officers then spotted the minivan and confirmed that it had been reported stolen. The Oakland police helicopter monitored the car’s movements from overhead. At one point, the minivan sped past a Chronicle reporter, running stop signs as it traveled at more than 60 mph north on Peralta Street.

It was soon followed by a phalanx of police cars.

Moments later, two police cars coming from different directions collided. Other officers ran to help their injured colleagues and later removed riot gear and weapons from the crashed cars for safekeeping.

Read that whole story here.

Doesn’t Oakland seem like a great place to live?