Yesterday, DCist mourned the demotion of the most famous 3D Police Official In Recent Memory—Inspector-now reassigned 7D captain—-Edward Delgado.

This white shirt had become the Arcade Fire of District bloggers, the listserv his neon bible. DCist writes in a cross post with a Columbia Heights blog: “Delgado was a respected and well-liked officer, he went to many local meetings, posted frequently on the email list and responded to citizen questions quickly.”

Any other cop getting a transfer slip would have gone unnoticed. But Delgado is different. He’s a celebrity.

I’m sorry but I just don’t get all the Delgado love.

If the most important function of his job appeared to be informing the public about various police issues, he was a failure. DCist praised him for debunking the whole muggers-preying-on-Target customers myth. But Delgado was the one that authored the rumor in the first place. He got that myth started and had to walk it back.

Delgado’s other big newsmaking e-mail was his rant about the teenage robbery suspect who needed to be stopped. His whiny tirade drew the ire of AG Peter Nickles. And rightfully so. Delgado drew attention to a case the police actually screwed up. The kid’s case hadn’t been flagged by the police as particularly important, and the evidence they produced wasn’t good enough for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He had also been deemed mentally incompetent for trial. Delgado’s lack of nuance on the topic only highlighted the police screw ups.

Delgado may have been liked because he was more accessible than most cops. He camped out on listservs and was a presence at community meetings. Talk about a low standard. When it mattered, he couldn’t get his own story straight.