Apologetic police commander reinstated

WASHINGTON --A police commander returned to his position Monday after being reassigned for making a comment that some deemed racially insensitive following the slaying of a British political activist.

On July 10, Cmdr. Andy Solberg spoke to residents who had gathered to express concern about the slaying of Alan Senitt, 27, a volunteer in the potential presidential campaign of former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner.

Senitt's throat was slit a day earlier during a robbery in the upscale Georgetown neighborhood as he and a female companion returned from a movie. Police say Senitt's attackers attempted to rape the companion.

"I would think that at 2 o'clock in the morning on the streets of Georgetown, a group of three people -- one of whom is 15 years old, one of whom is a bald chunky fat guy -- are going to stand out," said Solberg, referring to the suspects arrested in the case. "They were black. This is not a racial thing to say that black people are unusual in Georgetown. This is a fact of life."

Solberg, who is white, was reassigned the next day to the department's security services division, said Sgt. Joe Gentile, a police spokesman. But Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said he reinstated Solberg after taking "corrective action."

Solberg is acting commander of the police district that includes Georgetown.

"I was wrong, the remarks were insensitive, and I have learned a lot in the past few weeks," he said Monday. "Anything like this should certainly give rise to some serious self-examination ... and I'm doing that."