I had blogged a while back about the Berkley, CA chief who sent an officer to the home of a reporter late in the night when the chief had a concern about a news article the reporter wrote. While I don't particularly want to highlight a colleague's troubles, I do find these two incidents particularly interesting. The Berkley chief is involved in a controversy again-this time regarding the department's involvement in the investigation of the chief's son's stolen i-phone. There were about ten investigators involved in the search for the i-phone and some folks are raising concerns that the resources expended on the phone search was over the top and preferential. Here is a link to the article. http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_20695019/berkeley-police-chief-defends-actions-chase-his-sons?source=rss
I am interested in your thoughts. Do you think the chief should face any scrutiny or discipline over these acts?
I'd say so. Without knowing the resources available at the time the Berkeley PD, it's not possible to know if this was a disproportionate response, especially in light of the exculpatory examples cited in the story. However, the fact that those sort of resources were deployed (and to an adjoining city, to boot) without any sort of report being formally filed stinks to high heaven. At this point in our media landscape, credibility can only be established through transparency.
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