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The relationship between the San Jose police department and the San Francisco 49ers is under scrutiny by the police department's Internal Affairs unit. According to San Jose Mercury News reporter Robert Solanga, the unit is investigating the rules that dictate the kind of work officers can do with the 49ers during their off-duty hours.
This comes up because one such officer has become involved in the Ray McDonald investigation. Last week, the San Jose police department turned over their investigation of Ray McDonald to the Santa Clara District Attorney's office for a decision. The DA's office can decide to charge or not charge McDonald with felony domestic violence or some other crime, or they can have the police investigate further. The police department took a month to turn over the investigation, and recent reports indicate there were complications involving a local police officer.
Ray McDonald reportedly contacted the officer either before or around the time of a 911 call on August 31. The officer went to McDonald's house and this has caused some complications due to the conflict of interest it potentially raises. The officer works for the police, but also works part time in security for the 49ers. If he is responding on behalf of the 49ers, one has to wonder what might have happened when on-duty police arrived to the scene. McDonald was arrested, but we still don't know exactly what else went down.
There are numerous potential issues, and it starts with the appearance of impropriety. Sure, it would be nice to assume everything was on the up and up, but this kind of situation raises questions. Solanga's article goes into detail about the relationship the officer had with the 49er. This is not a new kind of relationship as plenty of police officers due a variety of side work. Even if Ray McDonald has done absolutely nothing wrong, the situation painted does not help matters at all. Give the article a read.
ESPN's Keith Olbermann brought up the Ray McDonald case Monday afternoon. While I do not agree with all of his points on the topic, he does raise some pertinent points about this issue of local police and the team.