Looks like there’s something afoot with MPD’s officials in the Third District Substation. A couple days ago, there was a message on the Substation email list welcoming a new commander, Inspector Jacob Kishter. The message had no mention of very popular Inspector Edward Delgado, and shortly afterward a couple of people asked what happened to him.

Turns out, the Examiner reports, Delgado was demoted to captain and reassigned to the very violent 7th District, apparently stemming from his complaints about D.C.’s juvenile justice system — in particular, MPD in Columbia Heights had three times arrested a teenager who had committed 21 robberies, and each time he was released by the Attorney General’s office, only to commit more robberies. A frustrated Delgado urged citizens to email D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles, and Nickles didn’t like that at all – he refused to read the emails and complained about Delgado’s response.

According to the Examiner’s story, Kishter was basically demoted to the Substation also — he was the 2nd highest officer in the Internal Affairs bureau, but recently a scandal came up about officers there filing false overtime reports. An investigation accused “upper levels of the executive command staff” that had “chosen to ignore and disregard this blatant conduct.”

Delgado was a respected and well-liked officer, he went to many local meetings, posted frequently on the email list and responded to citizen questions quickly. In one example, he disproved the rumor that someone was mugged in the Target parking garage.

Nickles’s actions sure seem pretty petty – the man is a public official, but won’t read emails from citizens? And then the 3D Substation gets an officer who was demoted. It’s certainly possible that Inspector Kishter will do a good job, but the whole situation is fishy.

Crossposted from New Columbia Heights