"... have been observed ..."

Really?

"...have also leveled complaints..."

All good things to be aware of. IF you can back it up. Can you?

If they are actually doing as you claim, and if they were to stop, then will come the complaints about APD being unaware and NOT responding to something posted online, right?

As in: "can't win"?

I have waited at the police station reception desk while the dispatcher behind the counter relayed a summary of a residents call which she was monitoring, to someone calling in to her for an update. I have no way of knowing if this was a legal form of phone monitoring or not, but it did send a few chills down my spine thinking about how "business as usual" she was about doing it right in front of me. I suppose there is really no way to ever know to what use the APD puts their resources at this point.

The claim as to whether Atherton dispatchers are monitoring this forum can easily be ascertained. All one would need to do is look at the cache of pages viewed at the workstation which dispatch uses. For obvious reasons, this should be done by someone independent of the Police Department.

The claim as to whether Atherton Dispatch is complaining about posts critical of the Atherton PD can also be determined. All communications to and comments on this forum can be traced to an IP address by the Almanac News.

I call upon the Almanac News to do its own investigation. Are the complaints of obectional posts critical of the Atherton PD comming from the Atherton Town Hall?

Please let us know Almanac. You are an independent source. Unfortunately we can no longer trust our own Police Department to tell us the truth.

Anonymous, you're winning enough already. With your salaries higher than 70% of all public safety officers in the wealthiest county in California, 90% of the six-figure salary at age 50 for retirement for life, medical benefits for you and your family for life after being on the job just one day, and $300,000 vacation payouts. If that's not winning, you need to redefine what it means.

"your salaries"

"for you and your family"

???

paranoid much?

Anonymous from Menlo Park sounds like one of the one too many bad apples Atherton has in its police department.

There have been many posts denouncing as vile, vindictive, vicious various postings that have raised legitimate questions regarding the conduct of Atherton's current and former top brass.

This is a practice all too common by the corrupt cadre of black sheep clad in blue Atherton Police uniforms. They lash out at a "criminal element" to draw attention away from their own misdeeds.

This stuff is straight out of the playbook of Richard Nixon. A guy whose photo hung on the wall of Nielsen's office when he was a Lieutenant with the PD.

You fellas smoke a little too much back in the sixties? Other than the salary info, can any of the other garbage posted above be documented in any way?

"There have been many posts denouncing as vile, vindictive, vicious various postings...."

Enlighten me. With a link or two. At least Stogner and his client show links.

Interesting choice of prez photos for Neilsen. Again, save me the search time and post a link.

Nixon. Really? ugh.

Here's a riddle for Atherton Disptach to contemplate while they are monitoring this blog.

Glenn Nielsen's cell phone records (which are available for public inspection) show that he was in regular contact with a woman who was the victim of elder abuse. The case was investigated by a detective under the direct supervision of Nielsen.

What is most puzzling about this riddle is that it wasn't Glenn Nielsen who rescued this elderly woman as she lay in bed at home, near death in late 2009. It was Kathy McKeithen.

Your riddle?

Cop in contact with victim, case investigated by underling, victim apparently rescued by mayor? What's the riddle?

For the uninitiated, you are the one speaking in riddles.

Links, so the rest of us may catch up to your illusions?

Anonymous has good reason to be skeptical.

Here is the link:

Web Link

There are several things I find troubling about the Wickett case.

The case was investigated in 2007. Another complaint was filed in 2009. It wasn't until Ms. Wickett was rescued by Ms. McKeithen that Sherman Hall began his investigation.

The Wickett case raises some disturbing questions:

Was the 2009 case a continuation of the pattern of behavior that started in 2007. It seems so because the alleged predator was involved with Ms. Wickett from 2007 through 2009. If such is the case, why didn't the police intervene in 2007?

Why wasn't Sherman Hall's investigation started in June 2009 when the Wickett case was referred to the Atherton PD? Why didn't Sherman Hall or someone else in Atherton react more quickly instead of waiting until December after the Mayor made a visit to the Wickett household in December 2009 and arranged for her rescue?

There is no indication as to the cause of Armstrong's death, specifically whether it was accidental, a suicide or something more sinister. This raises the question: Why did Sherman Hall drop the investigation like a hot potato after Armstrong's death.

The second in command at the time of Wickett's initial referal to the Atherton PD was Glen Nielsen. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to chief. Nielsen was reputed to be a friend of Wickett. However it wasn't Nielsen who intervened. Shouldn't Nielsen who was a friend of Ms. Wickett have intervened more promptly? Couldn't Nielsen have saved the life of one and possibly two individuals?

The final question is the most troubling of all because Nielsen took an oath and collected a salary for protecting all in the community, not just the elderly. In this case, the Atherton PD as a whole and quite possibly Glenn Nielsen himself turned a blind eye to this shocking behavior.

My my, Bill Zaner's comments explain why the Police were so eager to arrest Kathy McKeithen before last month's council session. It is clear that they wanted to divert attention away from their own incompetent or worse corrupt behavior.

All the more reason to consider an alternative to the current mode or receiving police protection here in Town