"I hear what yer sayin factor, I couldn't agree more"
well at least this guy agrees with you ...
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 ...
i've given a lot of ground on this thread and told people they have valid points even if they differ from my viewpoint which, quite frankly, is in tune with the current state of policing. it may not be perfect, but would you rather have me lie? as of now, i'm done with this great thread.
if it's so horrible out there, why are these stories the exception rather than the rule? oh wait, you'll probably tell me that if everyone had video, we'd see these scenarios ARE the rule. save it. i know firsthand you'd be wrong.
Then you haven't been to a FR drug thread - they have much lower standards there.
"Because you're totally unable to control your actions"
My ... actions? What "actions" are those?
did you take that to mean illegal activities? if so, get a clue. i'm done.
"I hear what yer sayin factor, I couldn't agree more"
well at least this guy agrees with you ...
I admire your tenacity here. I really do and I'm not being sarcastic.
I've had "run-ins" with LEO's in the long past (mostly loud parties) and the police were fantastic to deal with! They were really nice people.
Only once do I remember not complying with an officer's suggestion. He showed up at my loud party and noted my car (in front of my house) was parked on the city "berm" (the grass area between the street and the public sidewalk.) The officer asked me to move my car off of the berm, because it was illegal to park there. I didn't know that it was illegal (to park there), but I said to him, "Officer, I've been drinking tonight and if I get into that car and move it, I'm worried about a DUI. I'd rather have you just ticket my car and I'll move it in the morning". (Again, remember, my car was parked right in front of my front door of my house - not even ten feet away.)
The officer (apparently) saw my logic...didn't press me...and never did ticket my car.
Now...fast forward 15 years...
My wife and I were staying at a local motel (birthday pool party for my 7 year old) and my wife forgot something at home. As she (alone) backed out, she bumped into another car. It was raining hard. My wife left a note (that was destroyed in the rain) AND a note at the front desk of the motel with our contact information.
We asked the front desk if they could provide the room number of the owner of the car (this seemed logical, since motels make you write down your license plate number upon check-in.) The front desk refused.
So now we have a note on the car (in the rain),and a note at the front desk.
No-one calls our room that evening.
The next day, around 2 PM or so (we had checked out went home), we got an expected phone call from the woman whose car was hit. (Yep-we left our home number also!). I told her to call the police and I'd meet her there to file an insurance claim.
I showed up, I had even taken photos of the damage for insurance purposes (mostly to protect ourselves...what if the individual...unknown at the time...started to really trash the car and blame it on us??).
The police officer who showed up was not nice at all. He got REALLY upset that it was ME who showed up and not my wife. He asked the lady (whose car was bumped into) if SHE wanted to press charges (on my wife) for "leaving the scene of an accident".
I was shocked! I thought we had done everything right?? (She declined, BTW)
The police officer was NOT HAPPY and he lectured ME about how my WIFE should have called the police immediately. It was clear he was looking to berate someone...and even though I wasn't the person who caused the accident...he let me have a lecture.
PROBLEM IS...
We looked up the city code/ordinance (my wife works for the city...) and what we did is RIGHT (we followed the law!). The officer...was wrong. Our city ordinance (paraphrased) says to leave a note on the car in a private parking lot
So, I had to sit there and listen to a police officer lecture ME (not the "accused") about how the law works...and he was WRONG.
After my wife heard my story about this officer, she (and, IIRC, some of her co-workers) wanted me to file a complaint against this officer.
I decided the potential hassles 'down the road', so to speak, were not worth it.
Robert, I was not only nice but completely cordial. The officer was totally wrong and was upset for some reason. It was TOTALLY clear, to me, that this officer was just...well...wanted to lecture ME! And I did nothing wrong!
The reason I wrote this to you, Robert, is not that I require you to change your position, but only that you allow that "even being nice, cordial and respectful to a police officer, when one has done no wrong at all, doesn't mean you will be treated with the same respect."
(I need to note that after my wife read through most of this post...she remarked to me the SAME police officer...while parked next to the SAME truck (in the accident) she drives...was very pleasant and nice to her as she was training him on a few new features the city had installed in his vehicle...my wife says he was very nice to her.)
The officer was carrying a gun. If he’s unable to maintain control of himself for a simple traffic stop, even if being provoked (and I don’t agree he was provoked), then he certainly should not be in any such position where he has the means to shoot someone in anger or retaliation.
There’s really just no excuse or justification that makes it okay for law enforcement to “make something up” to get even with a citizen, no matter how old or under what circumstances.
aww geez .... yer not gonna like my follow-up post (with the stop snithin dude)... much ...
I will apologize to you although I was trying to make a point ... I may have done so in a manner that appeared to question your character... that was and would have been uncalled for ... I’m sorry
I have many LEOs that are friends of mine and Good Cops are not hard to find...
I just totally dissagree that “cops are best at policing themselves” ....
I think we need more like Brett... and stronger Civilian Review Boards... I mean if the cops are doing nothing wrong they have nothing to fear from a few questions or a few cameras, right?
What, we're playing word games now? Go look in my previous post - I italicized your comment on the "actions" you would take if put in that situation.
No doubt you respond similarly to other situations in your life; probably the reason you feel the need for government to rule with a heavy hand is to restrain people like yourself. Luckily most of us are able to show restraint and don't need the government to keep us in check.
however, i was simply talking about what i had eluded to earlier:
shortcutting procedure, disobeying orders having to do with non-legal issues, and cops just being general a$$-oles to EACHOTHER, not non-cops. that kind of stuff should be handled in-house.
we will dissagree about civilian review boards. i don't want some 22 year old grad student from columbia university and some liberal activist POS sitting in judgement of something i did on the street. literally, those are the people who sit on those boards in NYC. and they entertain EVERYTHING. you arrest a crackhead for smoking crack, they make a complaint that you called them a name or some bullcrap and the civilian board cries for the victim crackhead.
no sir, if i mess up my boss will be all over me and, if necessary, suspend me on the spot and kick it upstairs or give me a personal retraining course.
No excuse for a cop being nasty to a citizen trying to do the right thing. I show a little respect, he shows a little professionalism. Thems the rules.
But here we have a punk kid giving a cop a hard time plus he did something similar nine months ago -- I find it hard to have any sympathy for him whatsover.
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?
i'm tired of you taking every sentence and putting the most negative spin possible on it. i'm telling you what it's actually like.
You can't or won't understand my reasoning. - Thanks.
i've given a lot of ground on this thread and told people they have valid points even if they differ from my viewpoint which, quite frankly, is in tune with the current state of policing.
Give some thought to the concept that "- the current state of policing -" is the issue here.
it may not be perfect, but would you rather have me lie? as of now, i'm done --
Thanks for your candor. Get some rest, then give more thought to your oath of office, and to your duty.
I have no idea what you're talking about. I've taken no actions for you to comment on. Who's projecting here?
"No doubt you respond similarly to other situations in your life"
What, you mean when I talk about those, too?
You are one strange ranger.
I don't know. I'm thinking that if he didn't shoot this punk he probably won't shoot anyone.
"There’s really just no excuse or justification that makes it okay for law enforcement to “make something up” to get even with a citizen, no matter how old or under what circumstances."
I agree. But wait. You're not saying the cop made something up and charged the kid, are you?
You know, I think you might actually be.
This really is Logic 101. You might've said you'd "like to bitch-slap him", or he "deserves to be bitch-slapped". Instead you stated flat out that you would do it. Clearly you have an anger-management problem; seek help.
But since it's an ordinary citizen fighting back against the proverbial city hall, it's positively scandalous.
Maybe more news reporters need to ride around in their cars with cameras running, especially at checkpoints.
I don’t think he’s caring much for the idea of an ordinary citizen who hasn’t done anything illegal, and can prove it.
At least it explains his point of view of sticking up for that abusive police officer.
IF I was that cop. Which is why I'm not a cop.
Like me saying IF I was an astronaut I'd drink half a fifth of Jack Daniels before lift-off. Which is why I'm not an astronaut. Now, are you going to conclude that I'm an alcoholic who needs help? Probably.
Like I said. You are one strange ranger.
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