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 ...
Wasn't that the MO of the Zodiac killer???
Eventually, someone 'set him up'. -- No one cared, - the funeral was sparsely attended, and the shooter was never found.
Judging from your comments, it appears you have no clue what it is like to be on the receiving end of police corruption and coverups. Judging from the comments from other FReepers on this forum, it appears that they, and some of their friends, have.
We outnumber you. What a sad day for America. The truth is, no one is "innocent until proven guilty" anymore in our country. If you think such a concept exists, you are fooling yourself, and those who still believe that if they are innocent they have nothing to hide, you are naive!
You do not have to be doing anything wrong to find yourself arrested--sometimes just being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or even being accused of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, is enough. "Probable cause" is a myth; thanks to the hard-line 'War on Drugs.' No, "reasonable suspicion" rules the day, and the burden of proof to declare your innocence is on you!
If a citizen has to go so far as to put himself under surveillance for his own self-protection, that alone should tell you how corrupt the police you insist on defending have become.
This is why average citizens who have been harassed keep receipts, make sure they are video-recorded at stores, pay with debit or credit cards, sign in at events, etc. anything that can show a date and time--all to prove their whereabouts in the event someone gets it into his head to accuse them of something they did not do.
It may be extreme, and maybe a little paranoid, but just one encounter with corrupt officials will teach the lesson that no one is safe, once they have the knives out for you. Ironically, knowing your Constitutional rights and exercising them seem to trigger this outlandish behavior from those in authority.
For your sake, I hope you don't learn this lesson the hard way, as have so many others.
Yep. Especially if their name starts with "ozz" -- them for sure.
"You couldn’t be a cop if you tried."
Isn't that what I said?
This is NOT the first time he (Brett) has recorded a police/traffic stop:
More CYA than a set-up per se. Depending on State law, you can get in trouble for recording conversations without the other person's knowledge. One-party consent states are the exception. The cop in this case, once he saw the camera, could have walked away at any time.
If he didn't tell the cop he was being recorded, then the evidence could be thrown out of Court. However, the camera was in plain view and not hidden. He also took it one step further and turned his evidence over to the media, to be judged in the court of public opinion. Now, that was smart. Embarassment sometimes works better than suing.
Here's more information on legally taping conversations.
http://www.rcfp.org/taping
Gosh. Maybe it's because I show them a little respect and try to make their jobs easier, not harder?
Our video boy here seems to have had more run-ins with the cops in his short 20 years than the rest of us combined. Why is that do you think? Just unlucky?
This is NOT the first time he (Brett) has recorded a police/traffic stop:
If the camera is wired to the cars ignition so it runs with the car is running, it's going to record everything that happens while the ignition switch is on.
Brett, how many hours of not being stopped by the police have you recorded?
but in terms of illegality, we have a saying:
is it worth your pension? is a free meal or perjury to put some crackhead behind bars worth your million dollar pension? the answer is a resounding no.
it puts some distance between officers. you should hear some of the stories the retired guys tell. they weren't out there framing people but it was more of a frat mentality, and we have somewhat lost that aspect of policing.
in everyday work, cops police themselves. and that is the way it should be. i'm not going down for something someone else did. but i'm also not going to go out of my way to turn in some cop for baloney. we have another saying:
nobody likes a rat.
I was probably stopped more times before I was 20 than most people are their entire lives. Most of the officers I met seemed nice enough, but a couple of them were real jerks.
It is because the System will not discipline its own that drives citizens to resort to these extreme measures to force action. I find it hard to believe that you can't even remotely see his side of it, but then you must be Mr. Perfect Law-Abiding Stepford citizen that nothing bad ever happens to--because you "follow the rules." What happens when the police don't? Ordinary citizens do not ask for trouble and I resent the implication that we do--especially when those in authority behave abominably and we call them on it. Standing up for your rights is not permission for them to make you a target for personal destruction.
Does your saying apply to everyone, or just other cops?
That's equivalent to the "Slut Defense" in a rape case. Nobody here is fooled.
No, that's the way you wish it could be. Get ready for the world of your every move being recorded.
i'm not going down for something someone else did. but i'm also not going to go out of my way to turn in some cop for baloney. we have another saying:
nobody likes a rat.
As I said earlier, your primary duty is to protect and defend our Constitution and our citizens. -- If you think 'ratting out' bad cops conflicts with that duty; -- catch 22, that's a bad attitude for a cop.
Can you understand that reasoning?
Just as I suspected - your posts on this thread (and many others) are little more than a case of projection. Because you're totally unable to control your actions, you assume everyone else is justified in acting the same way.
I'll say this again. Not everyone is an emotional wreck like you. Thankfully society holds itself to a higher standard than that to which you hold yourself.
huh? would i rat out a non-cop for non-illegal acts to their superiors? depends. but usually no. heck, i don’t call employers of people i DO arrest. i let the perps make a call and make up a reason they don’t show for work. i’ll arrest the guy, but i won’t stop him from making a living.
I, as well as many other Americans, believed the lie that "playing by the rules" and telling the truth would keep you out of trouble. In the words of Ron 'Tater Salad" White, "I was wrong."
What I didn't know is that those who think nothing of abusing their power, change the rules in their favor, anytime they see fit.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1761977/posts
with you freely admitting that that is a prevalent "saying"/attitude
why should WE even begin to trust you to "police" yourselves...
it is because of that "stop nitchin'" attitude that is prevalent among the police that we need more people like Brett...
and every municipality should have a Civilian Review Board that actually has "teeth"
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