Infallible?

Kathleen Kreller at The Statesman reports that Boise's police ombudsman, Pierce Murphy, says a BPD officer acted improperly when he roughed up (my words) Mike Burkett's son.

Boise police are defending the actions of a fellow officer after the city's community ombudsman issued a critical report saying the officer violated the department's policy on use of force.

Boise police chief Mike Masterson disagrees. Can't say as I've really been tracking it, but I can't recall a single instance of a BPD chief criticizing the actions of one of its officers.

Perhaps the chiefs are correct, and Murphy is not. If so, do we need an ombudsman? What are we getting for our money? If Murphy is correct, shouldn't the chief just admit that? A good chief will support his officers, but a good chief will also agree with criticism when it's well founded. Unfortunately, the citizenry is not in a position to judge who is correct.

Sounds like a job for a good investigative reporter.