The Simi Valley Police Department was correct to investigate why Bob Huber’s campaign signs kept disappearing in front of the McDonald’s on Yosemite Avenue.

Some have said there were more important things for our officers to be doing. The police blotter reveals that over the weekend of Aug. 27, arrests were made for sexual battery, drug possession, vandalism, burglary and drunk driving.

Was it the best use of resources to place a highly-trained detective in front of a fast-food restaurant watching signs for seven hours? Maybe not.

But the fact is, stealing campaign signs is a crime, and in this case, a felony. The candidates are spending hundreds of dollars to get their names out to the public. It’s illegal to steal or destroy their property. Police involvement is as pertinent to this case as it is to any other reported theft.

The issue is not the investigation but rather who was assigned to conduct it.

Sgt. Robert Arabian is the treasurer of the Police Officers Association and Huber’s most vocal and visible supporter on the force. He’s featured prominently in a pro-Huber video released to the public months ago.

With so many capable officers in the department, Arabian shouldn’t have risked the appearance of impropriety or accusations that he—a veteran officer—was using his badge to conduct a political favor.

Sgt. Arabian is free to support any candidate he wants. And his involvement in the investigation may have had nothing to do with support for Bob Huber. But by volunteering to conduct the stakeout himself, he turned an honest investigation into political fodder.

Council members are asked frequently to recuse themselves from voting if there’s even a hint of conflict of interest. When the possibility of a stakeout came up, Arabian should have done the same.

One bad call shouldn’t reflect poorly on the brave men and women of the Simi Valley Police Department who keep our city safe. But it’s Simi Valley’s most contentious election in 30 years: Arabian should have turned over the Huber sign mystery case to somebody else.