A San Francisco police officer was ordered out of John O'Connell High School for arresting an alleged gang member in connection with a double homicide without first consulting the principal.

Officer Joel Babbs, who is assigned to the department's schools detail, thought he was doing his job Dec. 15, getting a potentially dangerous suspect out of the Mission District school as fast as possible and without incident.

The 15-year-old boy in question is one of three suspects arrested in connection with a double homicide at Papa Potrero's Pizza on 24th Street in September. Police suspect the killings were an act of revenge by gang members for an earlier slaying.

"For me this was a safety issue," said Babbs, a 19-year veteran of the force. "Do you want your child sitting next to a double-homicide suspect? What if a rival gang decided to come after the guy and shot up the place?"

However, O'Connell principal Rick Duber - who told us he believes in "intervention over suspension" - said he was upset that Babbs had not informed him of the planned arrest and had handcuffed the student in public.

" I am very concerned about (Babbs') actions," Duber wrote in a memo to his school district superior the day of the arrest, adding that "his action today precludes any possibility of him ever returning to our campus."

Police homicide Inspector Brian Delahunty says the youth "wasn't the shooter" in the pizzeria killings, "but we do believe he held the victims down."

He says he told that to Duber the morning of the arrest when he called the school to see if the 15-year-old was there.

Duber told him the boy had been sent home a day earlier for being drunk in class and that he wasn't in school.

Unbeknownst to Duber, however, the boy had shown up with his aunt that morning and had been readmitted.

After talking to Duber, Delahunty called Babbs at the school and told him to arrest the boy if he saw him.

Within the hour, Babbs saw the youth, got a school security guard to take him out of class and arrested him when he got to the lobby. He cuffed the teen and took him to Mission Station for booking.

Babbs got a pat on the back from the cops, but when he returned to the school he was confronted by Duber, who accused him of going behind his back and booted him off campus.

Later that day, the principal fired off the memo to his boss, who suggested he calm down and work out his differences with Babbs.

And he has, sort of. After the two and their respective bosses met, Babbs went back on the job - but on the advice of his captain, is staying off campus unless he is called upon.

On the carpet: An Oakland city staffer wound up in the emergency room with chest pains after being dressed down at a recent City Council meeting - one of several incidents that prompted Mayor Ron Dellums tofire off a letter to council President Jane Brunner demanding that such verbal abuse stop.

"It is intolerable that people should have to work in an environment where they feel intimidated and fearful of others in a position of power over them," Dellums wrote in a Dec. 16 memo to Brunner and her fellow council members.

The heart scare was just part of it. Another employee wrote to the mayor that a council member had so embarrassed her at a committee meeting that she "suffered sleepless nights and anxiety for several weeks," before finally turning to therapy to calm her nerves before her council presentations.

City Attorney John Russo, who previously served on the City Council, agreed with the mayor - saying he's had outside legal counsel refuse to meet with council members in private for fear of verbal assaults.

"Behind closed doors, some council members are rude and haughty beyond acceptability," Russo said.

The mayor has instructed department heads and staff to report all "inappropriate" council behavior to City Administrator Dan Lindheim. If Lindheim "verifies that such abuse has occurred, that council member will not be permitted to interact directly with city employees," Dellums said.

Brunner acknowledged that colleagues have gotten testy with staff from time to time, but said she was unaware of any formal complaints being lodged against the council.

"A lot of it is City Council members trying to get answers in public and not getting them," she said. "It's difficult for staff to be on the stand, and some are more sensitive than others."

EXTRA! Catch our blog at www.sfgate.com/matierandross.