Posted on 09/21/2007 3:53:14 PM PDT by LibWhacker
ST. GEORGE, Mo. -- A suburban St. Louis police officer whose berating of a motorist was captured on video has lost his job.
Aldermen in the tiny town St. George voted 5-0 to fire Sgt. James Kuehnlein. The vote occurred Monday in a session closed to the public. Notice of the firing was posted Wednesday at City Hall.
Motorist Brett Darrow, 20, had a video recorder inside his car. He was at a commuter lot near Interstate 55 in the early hours of Sept. 7 when the officer approached the car.
In a video that got wide viewership on the Internet, Kuehnlein is heard taunting and threatening Darrow, sometimes shouting and using profanity.
Darrow had met with Police Chief Scott Uhrig after the incident to ask that Kuehnlein be fired.
"It's what I wanted the whole time," Darrow told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "The conduct was not forgivable."
Uhrig said he recommended that aldermen fire Kuehnlein based both on his language in the tape and because he violated department policy. That's because Kuehnlein should have been taping the encounter himself with his police car's camera.
No such footage could be found, though the camera is functional, Uhrig said.
The monthly board of aldermen meeting Thursday night was moved to a community center to accommodate the overflow crowd. About 30 people showed up, some defending their town and saying they were proud of their police force.
"This city needs to keep its own police department," said Mike Mosier, a former St. Louis police officer who has lived in St. George for 42 years.
But Alderman Carmen Wilkerson said she fielded dozens of calls from residents in recent days. She said many were from residents who said they were humiliated and embarrassed by the incident.
Aldermen said they planned to review how officers are hired and said the city attorney had looked into the cost of having St. Louis County patrol the city.
Kuehnlein's attorney, Travis L. Noble, said the officer received a letter Thursday detailing the reasons for his firing. Noble said he would review the letter with his client before deciding on a course of action.
Justice is served!
see # 12 then #19.......looks like this kid wants to be an activist......so activist he will be.....set the cops up the first and second time, shame on the cops for the second time, LOL......bet me he won’t get away with it a third time, and keeping his nose clean will become more than he can handle at some point in his activism....
Not quite yet, not until this cop does time for threatening.
And then there's the civil suit
Don’t most states have a requirement that officers be certified by a state agency. If so, he should lose his certification and that would prevent him from simply turning up in another jurisdiction.
Where’s the video
This happen in Houston with a Metro Police Officer. The cop was caught red handed talking trash. All the stations covered it and then it quietly went away.
Driver Brett Darrow said he just happened to have a camera rolling when he was stopped by police.
Darrow, 20, swears he doesn't go out looking for trouble, but said he was assaulted by an off-duty officer in 2005 and received a traffic ticket he didn't agree with in 2006.
He said that's why he had the camera installed in his car and keeps it constantly rolling, in case trouble finds him.
There you go. Remember, Google is our friend... :)
I do not know if this is a case to remove his certification. But you have to be recertified every so often I am sure.
He posted here last week.
Missouri: Police Roadblock Harassment Caught on Tape.
TheNewspaper.com ^ | 12/30/2006 | Brett Darrow
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1761977/posts?page=1476#1476
I fell out of my chair when I read that. Then that part about #1 telling #2 about the "secret link". Too funny.
Maybe this is an idea that could assist your son...if it’s possible, I’d say go for it... I never thought of this before, but it is a great idea..I mean, cops are doing it supposedly to protect themselves against unsubstantiated claims, why not citizens do it for the same reason. There has got to be a way to subtly click a button and start the *hidden* camera rolling before the cop(s) approach the car.
Missouri: Cop Website Contained Apparent Death Threat Against Video Vigilante
When stopped by an out-of-control St. George, Missouri police officer last Friday, motorist Brett Darrow feared for his life (view story and video). It turns out, he had legitimate reason for concern. Three months ago, participants in an online forum frequented by Saint Louis law enforcement personnel threatened to harass -- and even physically harm -- Darrow.
I am not directly involved with the certification of law enforcement personnel by a state agency, but my son is a deputy sheriff here in Florida and I know that he has to be certified by the state or he can’t work for any agency or jurisdiction in the state. This sort of behavior would certainly result in him losing his certification. The agency is certifying that the person is qualified to be in LE. The inability to keep one’s temper and to refrain from behavior such as this officer demonstrated would, I think, be considered evidence that the person did not meet minimum standards.
I’d personally like for a car company to come out with a built-in cam and recorder unit...really start to clean up cop corruption period. This episode...is simply one of fifty that occurred throughout the US that night. Most folks get to the point where they start to blame local towns themselves and refuse to ship in those towns. The cops and city officials think they are clearing lots of money on episodes like this...but they are losing tax revenue and business in the town as well.
Ask your son about this and let me know what he says. Thanks.
Excellent Idea.... Ifn’s we buffoons have ta be monitored, then so do they. I have a hunch, it will be ford first. But I aint taken bets. :)
The victim just posted here
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1900619/posts?q=1&;page=195#195
“If he doesnt get a job my guess is the former cop will end up being arrested for something sooner or later.”
He already was and they hired him anyway.
“A check of court records shows Kuehnlein himself pleaded guilty of assault and stealing in two different cases, in 1988 and 1990. He successfully petitioned a judge in St. Louis County in 1998 to expunge his criminal record, which was making it hard for him to get work as a cop.
The judge ordered those records sealed, as well as records of an acquittal for drunken driving and an assault arrest that did not result in charges.”
http://www.officer.com/online/article.jsp?siteSection=1&id=37868
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