Midday Briefs

Response to Letter to Sacramento Bee

Ruth Pagano of West Sacramento wrote into the Sacramento Bee complaining what she believes are about my blatant false representations of recent events in Davis.

An unfair blog on Davis PD

In the article "Political blog is the talk of Davis," Jan. 14, John Lofland is quoted as saying about David Greenwald's political blog on the city of Davis: "It was very entertaining . ... He's producing an alternative reading of everything that's happened in Davis' recent history." For some, the blog may in fact be only viewed for entertainment purposes, but it is clear, at least for this observer, that Greenwald's personal agenda and blatant false representation of what has "truly" occurred in Davis' recent history is causing more harm than good.

The fact that Greenwald is upset over the unfounded complaints against Davis PD (yes, Davis PD has been cleared of any wrongdoing) is an outrage and should be publicly protested instead of being praised with almost a full page in the Sunday Metro section.

I wonder what Greenwald would write on his blog if he either required police assistance or if someone hit his car and ran.

- Ruth Pagano, West Sacramento

Her chief example is my being upset over "the unfounded complaints against Davis PD." She goes on to further write--"yes, Davis PD has been cleared of any wrongdoing."

There are plenty of areas where reasonable people could disagree with my views on various issues that pertain to Davis. That's why we have elections and public discourse.

However, in this instance Ms. Pagano is patently wrong in her complaint. I assume she is referring to the Buzayan case, since that is the case I have written most about. She is correct that the city of Davis police department's own internal affairs department cleared the officer of wrongdoing, however, a Federal Judge found enough credible evidence which refutes that opinion to hold the lawsuit over for trial. To suggest that the officer or his supervisors have been cleared in this case is patently misleading. The outside entity that has cleared the police officer of wrongdoing is the Davis Enterprise Columnist Bob Dunning and Editor Debbie Davis.

We shall see what happens in this court case, and the police officer will get his day in court to defend his conduct, however, from what I have seen, there is plenty of evidence to sustain findings of misconduct on the part of multiple agencies.

---Doug Paul Davis reporting