Denying that his son received preferential treatment, the Berkeley police chief Wednesday defended using 10 officers to knock on doors in search of the teen’s stolen cellphone.
Chief Michael Meehan distanced himself from the decision to use 10 officers, including four — three police detectives and a sergeant — who each logged two hours of overtime during the search in January that took them into Oakland. He said field supervisors decide how many officers to deploy based on how busy police are and available staff.