Posted on 09/22/2007 8:03:54 AM PDT by beltfed308
ST. GEORGE — A police officer who was recorded berating a motorist earlier this month has lost his job.
The board of aldermen voted 5-0, with one member absent, to fire Sgt. James Kuehnlein on Monday. The vote was cast in a session closed to the public and wasn't announced until Wednesday, when a notice was posted at the City Hall of this tiny south St. Louis County community.
In a video that got wide viewership on the Internet, Kuehnlein taunts and threatens motorist Brett Darrow, 20, sometimes shouting and using profanity, after questioning him in a commuter lot near Interstate 55. Darrow posted the footage of the Sept. 7 incident on the web.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
They won't rest until they've framed this kid up for something. Bet it involves his car and camera catching fire.
You make it sound like being setup is an excuse. This was not entrapment, that is all that matters.
I wish this ex-cop luck in finding an honest job.
That means the Officer was not doing anything wrong. Other than being offensive to our sense of right and wrong..
He was not breaking any law..
Threatening falsifying charges to arrest an innocent person and getting their car towed falls way outside lying and subterfuge IMO. With your theory cops could just walk up an down the street, bracing people at will and threatening them until they confess.
Remember, only in a police state is the job of a policeman easy.
I guessing you are not going to get a response.
“if cameras caught random interactions, that’s one thing. but this is different, imho. the cop was trapped.”
Lots of people on FR say that if a person is not doing anything illegal then they don’t have anything to worry about.
Imagine if there was no civilian video of this.
While I believe the officer “lost it” and was totally unprofessional, I also believe the smart alec little punk badly needs a good ole country ass whuppin’ to straighten out his bad attitude.
I have family and friends in law enforcement = cops like this are the rotten apples in the barrel - This cop is certifiable
“Imagine if there was no civilian video of this.”
LOL! You are kidding right? Not planning a riot are you?
-- Cops that mess with people are on the way out, thanks to recorders, and the 'agitators' they enable. -- And rational people won't miss that type of police work.
WLR wrote:
Why are you not addressing the real issue?
I am. The real issue is cops that abuse their authority.
It is Legal for LEO to lie, to use subtrifuge in trying to obtain information from a suspect or potential suspect (which is everybody of course).
We are all suspects. Good grief. And it is not 'legal' for officials to lie.
That means the Officer was not doing anything wrong. Other than being offensive to our sense of right and wrong..
He was not breaking any law.. He was not saying ?I will arrest you unless you give me $20? Address that problem and you can get to the root of things.
Its been addressed by our Constitution. All officials are sworn to support and defend it. Lying is a form of entrapment.
Firing the LEO who did not falsely charge the kid is wrong. All it will do is result is Officers being more slick.. Placing more people in "Protective Custody" or using other more aggressive but technically correct techniques to gain compliance..
'Slick' officials can be dealt with. - And recording their every move is an excellent way to start.
So the next kid that does not answer will get pulled out of the car thumped and arrested for X & X & X.
And the next kid that records getting pulled out of the car and thumped, -- the cop will be arrested for assault.
It is easy to triumph up a cause for arrest..
Yep, that used to be the case. Records from on the scene will put a stop to such trumped up police triumphs.
At the same time we want Officers to be vigilant and to be inquisitive..
Cops will have to learn to do their jobs without abusing rights.
The other possible result is for Officers to just ignore anything but gunshots and bloody screams..
Spare me the hype.
Firing this LEO was wrong because he did nothing wrong as the law is currently written.
Here's the current law.
Federal Bureau of Investigation - Civil Rights - Color of Law
Address:http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/civilrights/color.htm
I don't see the value in his removal..
Apparently, you've never ran into a rogue cop. Lucky you.
“Cops in general have a pretty dangerous time of it at 2 AM and I don’t much appreciate some kid jacking with them, purposely trying to piss them off while wasting their time, my money and others’ safety, with his you-tube stunts.”
I don’t see how pulling into a parking lot is purposely trying to piss someone off. As for the wasting of time and money, well that seems to be on the cop as well, as he’s the one who kept this going.
Well, let's say he did -= though I see no evidence of this = just maybe this cop was well known for this behavior and had been running his own little terror reign on town's people and getting away with it -(with the way he carried on, it certainly doesn't appear to be a one time lapse) = People could complain to the chief til the cows came home and nothing would be done. It had to be documented.
"My point being..." if this is what it takes to get a rogue cop off the beat, so be it. kudos
OMG LOL
Hey, there's this bridge in Broklyn...
I don't know who's being naive, but I can for darn sure spot the @$$hole in this conversation.
L
He did not want his actions on tape. And it seems he about swallowed himself when he = too late = spotted the camera in the car...
I have a feeling there are a lot of law abiding citizens in that town who have had run-ins with this little Gestapo wannabe who are breathing easier with him off the force
The government needs to restore the separation between peace officers and rev'nooers.
Indeed he does have a history of bad behavior. See post #19 on this thread:
Kuehnlein himself pleaded guilty of assault and stealing in two different cases, in 1988 and 1990.
Cops are required to endure a certain abuse without letting it get to them personally. While it's true that almost any cop will have some limits, I would posit that any cop who can't endure even a fairly mild level of abuse without being driven bad should seek another line of work. If this guy is finding cops who fit that category, while not overly wasting the time of those who don't, good for him.
he gave him his license and proof of insurance - the cop couldn't figure out his ID from that?????
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