Accused of Carrying Gun : Ex-Jailer Seeks Police Position, Gets Arrested

A former jailer interviewed for a position with the Glendale Police Department last week. Instead of getting the job, he got arrested.

Stephen G. Berk, 36, of Panorama City was taken into custody May 15 after Sgt. Donald S. Shade noticed a bulge in Berk’s jacket. Shade searched Berk and found a loaded .380 automatic pistol and several rounds of ammunition, police said.

Shade was interviewing Berk in Glendale City Hall for a job as a community service officer. That job classification can include such duties as ticketing parking violators and being a radio dispatcher.

Berk said he had been carrying the weapon for four years to protect himself, according to police reports.

In fact, police said, Berk did not have a permit to carry the gun and his identification had been altered.

Berk had a badge and identification showing him to be a retired deputy from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department, police said.

San Luis Obispo Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Tony Wood said in a telephone interview that Berk worked for the department from 1976 to 1979 as a dispatcher and a correctional officer.

He said Berk was a volunteer but had never been a sworn deputy.

Berk worked in the news department of a radio station before joining the Sheriff’s Department, and resigned from the Sheriff’s Department in good standing to become a dogcatcher, Wood said.

Berk was released and is to be arraigned June 10 in Glendale Municipal Court.