The former head of the Los Angeles Police Department's internal affairs unit acknowledged in a sworn deposition that he had a three-year affair with a female sergeant under his supervision, raising new questions about how the watchdog unit operated.
The LAPD handbook notes that relationships between supervisors and subordinates are problematic. It says that if such a liaison develops, "it is the duty of the involved employees to immediately notify their commanding officer."
In the deposition, Michael Berkow, who is married, said he met Sgt. Andrea Balter in 2003 and had sex with her over the next three years. Until January 2005, she worked for the internal affairs division as an advocate, a kind of internal prosecutor handling police misconduct cases, including those involving inappropriate sexual relationships.
Berkow's attorney, Clint D. Robison, said his client did not report the relationship to his commanding officer, Police Chief William J. Bratton, because although Berkow was Balter's ultimate boss, she did not report directly to him. "In his opinion, [the relationship] wasn't reportable," Robison said.
Bratton's spokeswoman said Tuesday that the chief, citing personnel rules, would not say whether he was aware of the relationship.
The deposition took place Oct. 11, but attorneys representing Berkow and the city have attempted to keep its contents sealed. Berkow left the department a few weeks later to become chief in Savannah, Ga.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William F. Fahey on Tuesday denied the city's efforts to seal Berkow's deposition, allowing it to be made public.
In a statement released late Tuesday by the Savannah city manager to elected officials and the press, Berkow said he regretted the pain he had caused others.
"The court ruling today released to public view details of my private life," he wrote. "My wife and I were having marital problems at the time and were effectively living in two different cities, during which time I became involved with another woman. I deeply regret this fact and the pain I have caused all parties."
Berkow said that he was truthful in the deposition and that the lawsuit it stems from has no merits. He was deposed as part of a civil suit brought by another former female subordinate who accused him of promoting women in his office who had sex with him. Ya-May Christle claims that Berkow kept a bedroom on the floor above his office in the Bradbury Building.
