Cheap Kensington Cop Commits Crime…Pays No Time

The Contra-Costa times is to be credited for exposing the cozy “boys club” aka The Kensington, CA. Police department and the criminal behavior of one of its top cops. Kensington, a wealthy enclave, nestled between Berkeley, El Cerrito and Albany has a problem with policing its own police department.

What has occurred in this case is instructive as to how governments, police and district attorneys treat their own when they violate the law. According to news reports, 47 year old Kensington Police Sergeant Keith Barrow solicited, utilized and paid for the services of a prostitute during a trip to Reno last year. Barrow, who heads the police union in Kensington and was paid $186,000 in cash and benefits in 2014, paid $70 for the services of the prostitute. Prostitution in Nevada is only legal in regulated brothels. Barrow apparently fell asleep and woke to find that “the hooker -- and Barrow's badge, handcuffs, .40-caliber service pistol and two clips of ammunition -- were all gone.” Even though Barrow committed illegal acts and admitted to it, neither the Reno Police nor the Washoe County District Attorney filed charges against Barrow and they refuse to discuss the case.

Apparently Kensington has taken almost a year to deal with this matter and it is not clear as to what, if any, punishment is being meted out. A report in the February 9th issue of the San Francisco Chronicle states that Barrow had been suspended but the details are murky and this appears to be a covered up matter. As you know, almost everything a cop does is considered a “personnel matter” of which the public has no right to know anything about. There are many residents of Kensington who are upset with what has happened and what appears to be a history of lax oversight by the local government.

More details of this sordid story can be found out http://www.contracostatimes.com/old/home/ci_27483758/east-bay-cop-whose-gun-was-stolen-by
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Kensington-cop-suspended-after-theft-of-gun-by-6070198.php

This is another example of the special status cops have in the dystopian USA. They are absurdly overpaid especially when you consider that many of the people they harass are low income. Additionally, police, who enforce the laws, should be held to a higher standard in adherence to the law but frequently appear to be above the law.