Police Political Photos Targeted in Complaint

Several Huntington Beach policemen have posed in uniform for campaign photos with City Council candidates in apparent violation of state law, but the district attorney’s office says there may be little, if anything, it can do about it.

In fact, Police Chief Earle Robitaille said the photos are fine with him “as long as they’re not done on city time. The police officers endorse candidates through their association and have been doing pictures with them. They buy their own uniforms, so I would think that the proprietary rights of what is done with the uniforms during off-duty hours is up to them.”

Robitaille said he would not take action against his policemen unless instructed to do so by Deputy Dist. Atty. Maurice L. Evans’ office or City Atty. Gail Clifford Hutton.

The issue of the campaign photos was raised Monday by Huntington Beach resident Barbara McDowell, who filed written complaints with both the city attorney’s and district attorney’s offices. She included samples of campaign brochures distributed by four council candidates--John Erskine, Sherwood Bailey, Henry Yee and Wes Bannister--that show each of them with uniformed members of the Huntington Beach police force.

McDowell pointed out that a 1966 city ordinance states that “no officer or employee of the city shall participate in political activities of any kind while he is in uniform.” A similar state law, adopted in 1976, states that “no officer or employee of a local agency shall participate in political activities of any kind while he is uniform.”

“I just think it’s wrong to use these photos to influence voters,” McDowell said, adding, “I’d like to see the laws that prohibit this kind of thing enforced. Otherwise we might as well not have them.”

Evans said the state law carries no penalties, so he has not decided how to handle the matter. He said he would talk to McDowell within a few days. “It may be one of those situations where you have to take the matter back to the police chief” and ask Robitaille to stop the practice, Evans said.

Hutton said the state law preempts the local ordinance and thus she will not take any action against violators. “But we are advising our officers not to do this sort of thing while they’re on the job, or do it in a way that shows a department badge or identification, just as a precaution,” Hutton said.

John Erskine, one of the candidates who has used such photographs, said his campaign committee was told that use of uniformed policemen is permitted by Huntington Beach Police Assn. members and Hutton’s office.

“It was my understanding that it was OK to show them, as long as it was on their own time and city equipment was not in the picture,” Erskine said.

Erskine added that it is the policeman who poses in such photos who is taking the legal risk, not the candidate. “We’d like to think that the police know what they’re supposed to do,” he said, “even when it benefits us as candidates.”

Other candidates could not be reached for comment Tuesday.