Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew and his fender-bender cause by a cell phone distraction last week has come under much scrutiny. KTVA’s Sean Doogan asked Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan if he thought the punishment fit the crime and if APD should have handled an investigation into one of its own as part of this week's View From City Hall.

Sean Doogan: What do you believe constitutes texting? Is manipulating your phone? Should that be something that people don't do while they are driving?

Mayor Sullivan: Oh, I don't know. That's a state law and they did a lot of research on it and they held the committee hearings and so it’s hard for me to weigh in on what's an appropriate law or not an appropriate law when it's a state law. Bottom line: It was a very, very minor fender-bender. If you look at the two pictures, you can't even tell there's damage. The chief has admitted he was checking his PDA. He wasn't texting, he was just checking to see what was making it blink and took his eye off the ball for a second and I would hate to make an above the fold headline in the Anchorage Daily News. I think that's a little overkill on this incident.

Sean Doogan:  Do you believe it was handled properly by APD? Some would suggest that should that be me in that car, I would have received a ticket.

Mayor Sullivan: Yeah, the policy of the city has always been to deal with these things internally.  We are reviewing those policies.  This is something that after two years on the job has never come up before. So, you review policies once they become an issue, but it's been a long-standing practice that they handle these things internally. He was given a reprimand and has accepted that and is obviously contrite for taking his eye off the ball, literally, for a nanosecond. But it's over and done.  I think we'll move on from that.

Sean Doogan: Well, I think you have to feel for the guy a little transgression, but embarrassing when you are the police chief.

Mayor Sullivan: Sure, absolutely, and he's duly embarrassed.