The head of the Union City Police Officers Association was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving, the third officer from southern Alameda County to be accused of driving under the influence this month, authorities said Friday.
Officer Michael Ward, 43, was spotted driving a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck on Bernal Avenue in Pleasanton about 12:15 a.m. Feb. 8 while using a non-hands-free cell phone, said Officer Steve Creel of the California Highway Patrol.
A CHP officer pulled Ward over, determined he was intoxicated, and arrested him on suspicion of misdemeanor drunken driving, Creel said.
Ward is a 22-year Union City police veteran and president of the Union City Police Officers Association.
Union City police Cmdr. Ben Horner declined to comment on the arrest, saying an internal review was under way.
Two Fremont police officers were arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in separate incidents Feb. 3 and 11. They and Ward were all off duty when they were pulled over, Creel said.
The CHP does not track how many of its DUI arrests involve law-enforcement officers or release preliminary blood-alcohol levels, Creel said.
Harry Stern, a Pleasant Hill attorney whose firm represents most police officers in the Bay Area caught up in disciplinary and criminal cases, said officers cited for drunken driving while off duty come to his firm a couple of times a month on average.
"A cluster is probably an accurate way of describing" three arrests in eight days, said Stern, a former Berkeley police officer. "I would say it (an officer being arrested for drunken driving) happens with the same frequency as the general population. Unfortunately, it's not unusual."
Stern said officers generally "err on the side of making the arrest" when dealing with a law enforcement colleague who might be borderline drunk, "lest there be an implication that they're being lenient."
"The days of police officers giving each other breaks have long since passed," he said.
Officers arrested for DUI face possible department sanctions, including suspensions or firing, Stern said.