Berkeley police chief defends cops' search for son's iPhone

Police Chief Michael Meehan said no preferential treatment was given when the officers, including three detectives and a sergeant, searched for the phone.

The police chief of the California college town of Berkeley is defending using 10 officers — some on overtime — to search for his teenage son's stolen iPhone.

Police Chief Michael Meehan told the Oakland Tribune on Wednesday no preferential treatment was given when the officers, including three detectives and a sergeant, searched for the phone, which was taken from a school locker in January.

Meehan says field supervisors decide how many officers to put on a case and he's confident the search was properly handled.

The police chief also came under scrutiny in March after ordering an officer to a reporter's home to ask for changes to an online story about a community meeting criticizing the alleged slow police response to an elderly man's beating death. Meehan apologized.