Who knows, but that fund Ed had been using had been dipped into by other police chiefs for miscellaneous purchases pre-Ed for a while. One option might’ve been “hey, why did you buy panties with that fund? Even if other guys did it it’s not for that, quit it and pay it back.” Another is to call the FBI. Another is to not even probe smaller expenses in the first place. I’m not saying Ed was wrong, and maybe he was given the option to pay it back and said no, I don’t know. Ed thinks it was political, but of course consider the source.