Sacramento police chief says no crime committed by mayoral candidate Johnson, now endorsed by deputy sheriffs' union

Sacramento Police Chief Rick Braziel defended his department’s 2007 probe of a sexual misconduct case involving mayoral candidate and ex-NBA star Kevin Johnson, with Braziel concerned about pressure exerted on him from allies of Johnson’s primary rival, Mayor Heather Fargo.

At a press conference Wednesday, Braziel said police could not verify a claim, later recanted, by a Sacramento High School student that Johnson inappropriately touched her in 2007.

“No crime occurred, the investigation was closed and we acted appropriately," according to Sacramento’s KCRA-TV, which covered the press conference. “A lot of folks can sit back and Monday-morning quarterback, but when you don’t have a crime your investigation stops…To put the Sacramento Police Department, particularly the men and women, and suggest that their integrity is in question during that investigation done a year ago is quite offensive.”

Later Wednesday, Johnson picked up the endorsement of the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association. “…The majority of our board felt confident with his overall platform, his support of law enforcement and labor as well as his ideas for future economic development in the area,” said SCDSA president Kevin Mickelson.

The deputies’ union addressed the misconduct controversy in its endorsement statement. “Our board asked him some really tough questions regarding the allegations that have been aired recently and were satisfied with his answers,” Mickelson said. “…no charges have ever been filed in any of the cases being currently tried in our local media.”

In March the deputies’ brother union at the city force, the Sacramento Police Officers Association, endorsed Johnson, a former Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers point guard who this week is canvassing neighborhoods to meet voters.

The Sacramento Bee chronicled the 2007 allegation last week. The girl who made the claim reportedly was upset at some behavior going on at the high school; in public, Johnson apparently consoled her with his hand on her shoulders but that was the extent of the contact, officials said.

The newspaper’s coverage prompted an ad hoc group of Fargo-allied women political leaders including ex-Mayor Anne Ruden to demand that police make public the Johnson investigation report and reopen the case. Braziel said Wednesday the case would not be reopened and the case report not be made public, an ongoing, city attorney-backed policy.