The following story is almost unbelievable. If I had been the cop in this case, I would have told that pompous educated idiot to go fuck himself. And if SFPD would have disciplined me for telling him to go fuck himself, I would have looked for a position with a more enlightened police agency.
A public school is exactly that – PUBLIC! A police officer does not need an invitation or anyone’s permission to enter the premises of a public place in the performance of his duties. It has been my experience that faculty members and administrators of public schools are prone to burn an investigation, either inadvertently or deliberately, if an officer informs them that he wants to take some kind of police action on campus. The same holds true for colleges and universities.
PRINCIPAL BOOTS COP OVER STUDENT’S ARREST
Phillip Matier & Andrew Ross
San Francisco Chronicle
January 11, 2010
A San Francisco police officer was ordered out of John O'Connell High School for arresting an alleged gang member in connection with a double homicide without first consulting the principal.
Officer Joel Babbs, who is assigned to the department's schools detail, thought he was doing his job Dec. 15, getting a potentially dangerous suspect out of the Mission District school as fast as possible and without incident.
The 15-year-old boy in question is one of three suspects arrested in connection with a double homicide at Papa Potrero's Pizza on 24th Street in September. Police suspect the killings were an act of revenge by gang members for an earlier slaying.
"For me this was a safety issue," said Babbs, a 19-year veteran of the force. "Do you want your child sitting next to a double-homicide suspect? What if a rival gang decided to come after the guy and shot up the place?"
However, O'Connell principal Rick Duber - who told us he believes in "intervention over suspension" - said he was upset that Babbs had not informed him of the planned arrest and had handcuffed the student in public.
" I am very concerned about (Babbs') actions," Duber wrote in a memo to his school district superior the day of the arrest, adding that "his action today precludes any possibility of him ever returning to our campus."
Police homicide Inspector Brian Delahunty says the youth "wasn't the shooter" in the pizzeria killings, "but we do believe he held the victims down."
He says he told that to Duber the morning of the arrest when he called the school to see if the 15-year-old was there.
Duber told him the boy had been sent home a day earlier for being drunk in class and that he wasn't in school.
Unbeknownst to Duber, however, the boy had shown up with his aunt that morning and had been readmitted.
After talking to Duber, Delahunty called Babbs at the school and told him to arrest the boy if he saw him.
Within the hour, Babbs saw the youth, got a school security guard to take him out of class and arrested him when he got to the lobby. He cuffed the teen and took him to Mission Station for booking.
Babbs got a pat on the back from the cops, but when he returned to the school he was confronted by Duber, who accused him of going behind his back and booted him off campus.
Later that day, the principal fired off the memo to his boss, who suggested he calm down and work out his differences with Babbs.
And he has, sort of. After the two and their respective bosses met, Babbs went back on the job - but on the advice of his captain, is staying off campus unless he is called upon.
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