Metro miffed over image of policeman

Friday, Sept. 3, 2004 | 10:43 a.m.

Metro Police believe Assembly candidate Francis Allen violated police policy by depicting an officer on a campaign flier. The police department has asked Allen to stop distributing the leaflet.

The department sent Allen a letter dated Monday informing her that the flier, which shows a police officer in a brown uniform next to a smiling doctor, "is an unauthorized use of our uniform and is in strict violation of our policies and procedures."

Allen, one of three Republican candidates in the Assembly District 4 primary, said today that the policeman shown is not a Metro officer but a computer-generated image based in part on a Sacramento County Animal Control officer.

But the police say the resemblance is too close for comfort.

The officer is wearing a short-sleeved, light brown uniform. "It certainly appeared to be a very close likeness to our uniform; in our opinion, it was an attempt to use our uniform as an endorsement," said Sgt. Robert Roshak of Metro's Office of Intergovernmental Services.

Allen has received endorsements from three police organizations, but the department as a whole does not endorse candidates. In addition, Metro's badge is copyrighted.

After meeting with Allen on Wednesday, Roshak said he was satisfied that the person on the flier is not a Metro officer, so no internal disciplinary measures would be taken. But the department still takes issue with the image, he said.

"If it's not supposed to be a Metro officer, why are they wearing our uniform?" he said. "Why aren't they wearing black, or red?"

Allen pointed out that the chest badge and shoulder patch on the flier are too blurry to read and insisted she did nothing wrong.

"This seems to be much ado about nothing," she said.