Political Endorsements by Emeryville Police: At Odds With the Will of the People of Emeryville

Emeryville Police Enter Political Fray

Two Council Picks in Opposition to the Will of the People of Emeryville

Opinion

Next time you see one of these drive by remember

Ally Medina and Christian Patz are no good 

on our City Council.

The people of Emeryville made a mistake in the November election.  We selected the wrong City Council members say the Emeryville police.  Louise Engel and Brynnda Collins would have been good on our City Council.  We should have voted for Ms Engel and Ms Collins say those driving around our town with guns and a right to arrest.  Look who we got instead; Ally Medina and Christian Patz.
The Emeryville Police Department wants you to know the two winning City Council members selected by the people for our town were not worth voting for.  Those of you who voted for Ms Medina and Mr Patz should think about that next time you see the boys in blue drive by.  Those who voted for whom the police wanted us to vote for should think about it as well.

He supports the police say EPD.
Do the other two?
Do you, Emeryville voter?

Starting in 2016, our police department (who in addition to Ms Engel and Ms Collins told us to vote for John Bauters, now on our City Council) has now shamelessly turned into a publicly funded special interest group seeking what all such groups seek; to increase their money and power.  Now imagine an alternative universe where the Emeryville police don't insert themselves so heinously into our politics, instead they just avail themselves to protecting and serving all equally.  It would be an anachronistic place, a previous leitmotif where police are seen as non-political players, just neutral arbiters engaged in peace keeping. Unfortunately, after November that's not our town anymore.
And it's not just Emeryville.  Indeed, nation-wide police endorsing of political candidates seems to be a fashionable thing.  EPD's brothers and sisters at the Fraternal Order of Police endorsed Donald Trump for president, something that organization thinks will help foster good relations between the public and police.

Warning: When you see one of
these, don't let it slip you voted for
Ally Medina and Christian Patz.

The Emeryville Police Officers Association, a trade union, is reasonably expected to advocate in its member's interest.  That could even mean entering our electoral politics if a real threat rose up in the form of a candidate for City Council threatening them in some real way.  That's not what happened in the latest City Council contest.  Not one person running was anything but totally supportive of the Emeryville Police and all they represent.  Do the police have information about the winning candidates we don't know?  Are Ms Medina and Mr Patz some kind of clandestine cop haters that want to bring down the department?  The cops aren't saying.  We think that's not what going on here.  We think this is just dirty stupid politics being played by those who shouldn't stoop to that level.

An Emeryville police officer told the Tattler they will likely engage in this kind of political calculation from now on.  He said to expect political endorsements for City Council by the police next time too (strangely he would not say whether the police will endorse School Board members leaving us to wonder why not?).  This is a degradation of our Emeryville Police Department.  If they plan on inserting themselves as a manipulating power in our electoral business like this moving forward, they will have to suffer the inevitable ill effects that come from this sort of rank political gamesmanship.  We don't want that for this group of heretofore professional and highly publicly regarded public servants.  To the Emeryville Police Department: get out of our elections and back into our neighborhoods.

Fine on the School Board...just keep 
him off the City Council says EPD.

'Don't vote for her' says EPD.
Oops!  Too late.