Print Story
E-mail StoryCity's point man
This story originally appeared July 13, 2003
| Thursday, Feb 15 2007 3:08 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Feb 15 2007 3:08 PM
The face of Bakersfield, so far as viewers of CNN and other national news networks are concerned, is now Eric Matlock. Since the Harper family murders became national news five days ago, the Bakersfield police chief has become the city personified, voicing resolve and tenacity -- but certainly not overconfidence -- in appearances before the media encampment. By all accounts, he's done well by the city.
Brothers Trial E-mail Alerts
Stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the Vincent Brothers mass-murder trial.Sign up for the Brothers trial e-mail alerts
It's not a job he relishes -- and not just because of the horror of this particular crime.
"Anybody who knows me knows I'll walk a long way to avoid attention," said Matlock, a 33-year BPD veteran who's been chief since June 1999. "I don't seek the limelight. But when there's a light cast on the city and on the Police Department, as we're seeing in this heinous case, there's no way to avoid it."
He, along with BPD Capt. Neil Mahan, has briefed reporters in crowded press conferences from the steps of the Police Department several times since the unsolved quintuple murder case hit national new wires Tuesday.
"After getting back (from the crime scene Tuesday) I told the staff we're going to be descended upon," Matlock said. "And that very day the (television) trucks came rolling in. Fifteen years ago, it would have taken days. This time it took hours."
Matlock, as media-savvy as any police chief the city has had, has learned nonetheless that the rules are a little different when the reporters shouting out the questions normally lay their heads on pillows well outside Bakersfield's city limits.
"We're dealing with the scrutiny of the nation," Matlock said, "and it's different having people questioning our every move and demanding explanations for everything. I'm learning real fast. In a case like this, you don't tell (the national media) you don't have anything to say, or you can't comment. They'll just dig in their heels and demand to know why."
It's not that the local media is any less interested in getting it right and getting it first, he said.
"It's because they tend to be concerned about their own community," Matlock said. "The others ... speak to a national audience, and what they do is more along the lines of providing entertainment that just happens to involve a horrible crime. That's why I choose not to look at CNN or Fox. People in Bakersfield are trying to come to grips with this, and I'm no different."
In a sense, the national media is packaging tragedy like it's a product for the masses, Matlock acknowledged, "and to an extent I'm offended by that."
But Matlock knows dealing with them is part of his job description; it's simply a reality for law enforcement executives in the fully wired 21st century. Not that that realization makes him any more at ease with the makeshift village on wheels that sprouted up just below his second-story window last week.
"I don't know that I'll ever be real comfortable with it," Matlock said of the constant media presence on Truxtun Avenue. "I do find myself thinking, 'I never thought I'd be in that situation.' But I've watched other chiefs deal with this kind of thing, and worse."
Matlock watched Charles Moose, the Montgomery County, Md., police chief who became a national figure during the Washington-area sniper shootings last fall, and wondered how he managed to handle the media horde. Matlock had a chance to speak with Roy Wasden, the Modesto police chief, whose department has dealt with the national media in the Chandra Levy and Laci Peterson disappearance/murder cases.
"I guess I knew it could happen here," Matlock said. "I guess it can happen anywhere."
He's definitely not inclined to take the route Moose took and write a book about the investigation -- not that he'd be in a position to do such a thing, given the preliminary nature of the investigation and the lack of resolution.
"I grew up in this department and would never try to take advantage of my situation," he said.
Matlock said he's been sharing time at the microphone with Mahan, captain of the investigations detail, for a good reason.
"He's doing a good job under a lot of pressure," Matlock said. "I want him out there with me because he has full command of all the details."
Bakersfield City Councilman Mike Maggard, who has watched the story unfold from out of town, says they've both done excellent jobs.
"This is pretty much how Eric is most of the time," said Maggard, who has been on vacation on the Central Coast and learned of the murders while watching Fox News. "He is careful, really prudent and says only what he knows, even if it invites criticism. Mahan has been the same way. The fact that they had to let the guy (Vincent Brothers, briefly in custody for questioning in North Carolina) go free could have really fueled criticism in the media, but the way they handled it, with confidence and dignity, really squelched any of that.
"The three people I've seen on the national news -- Matlock, Mahan and (City Councilwoman) Irma Carson -- have had an air of confidence about them that speaks well for the city."
Many in the department, Matlock said, have been hit hard by the brutality of the murders of Earnestine Harper, 70; her daughter Joanie Harper, 39; and Joanie's children Marques Juwan, 4; Lyndsey Michelle, 23 months; and Marshall, 6 weeks.
"Officers are emotionally involved because they had to see that (crime scene)," Matlock said. "The bodies, the baby. I tell them to stay focused, to keep their minds on their tasks. I don't think we've had anything like this before. Nothing has ever come close to this level."
It's yet another lesson in an unending succession of lessons for the 54-year-old police chief.
"Nothing can prepare you to sit in that chair," Matlock said, nodding toward the leather chair behind his big desk. "You can't 'wait till the chief's back' to get an answer."
He makes no promises about the Harper murder investigation, other than this: BPD investigators will be diligent. He believes there will be an arrest. When is anybody's guess.
"This is a tough one," Matlock said. "But we're going to get it. We're going to be careful about it, take whatever time we need to get it right, but we're going to get it."