Posted on 09/12/2007 8:20:27 AM PDT by SubGeniusX
A car-mounted video camera — more commonly used by police than against them — captured a loud and threatening confrontation in this tiny St. Louis County community that left an officer on suspension and the whole world able to listen in.
[snip]
A voice identified as Kuehnlein's can be heard taunting the driver and threatening to jail him on fabricated charges.
The tape, made late last week, was from a camera running in the vehicle Kuehnlein approached, police said.
[snip]
In the video, Kuehnlein, a St. George officer for about two years, approaches a young man who was sitting in a parked car about 2 a.m. in a commuter lot near Spokane and Reavis Barracks roads. Kuehnlein asks for identification. When Darrow asks whether he did anything wrong, the officer orders him out of the car and begins shouting.
"You want to try me? You want to try me tonight? You think you have a bad night? I will ruin your night. … Do you want to try me tonight, young boy?"
Darrow says no.
"Do you want to go to jail for some (expletive) reason I come up with?" the police officer says. Later, Darrow says, "I don't want any problems, officer."
"You're about to get it," Kuehnlein is heard saying. "You already started your (expletive) problems with your attitude."
After the officer notices the camera, he says, "I don't really care about your cameras, 'cause I'm about ready to tow your car, then we can tear 'em all apart."
[snip]
Darrow said he was not trying to entrap the officer. He said he pulled into the commuter lot to meet a friend. When the officer asked him for identification, Darrow said he didn't immediately present it because he believes the officer stopped him without probable cause.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Exerpt:
Officer #1: Let me see your insurance card for the vehicle.
Brett: Did I commit a moving violation?
Officer #1: Yeah you did, when you were coming in here. Brett: Really? What was that?
Officer #1: Yeah, you wanna try me? You wanna try me tonight? You think you've had a bad night? I will ruin your ****ing night.
[Officer starts to get close up to my face] Officer #1 You want to try me?
[Officer is inches away from my face, screaming as I'm pinned between him and my vehicle]
Officer #1 Do you wanna try me young boy? Do you want to try me tonight young boy?
Brett: No I don't.
Officer #1: Do you want to go to jail for some ****ing reason I come up with?
Brett: No I don't.
Officer #1: Do you wanna see who knows the law better, me or you. My experience compared to your young ass. Huh? Don't ever get smart mouthed with a cop again. I show you what a cop does. Do you understand me?
Brett: Yes sir.
Officer #1: Try and talk back -- Talk back to me again. I bet I could say you resisted arrest or something. You want to come up with something? I come up with nine things. Do you wanna try something?
Young punks and that pesky Constitution.... where do they get off not licking boots...
Cops don’t do such things........must be a fake................./s
follow up — Cop is suspended w/o pay
Ah, of course they do. Many years ago, my mother told me that one of the differences between America and the third world is that our police and military would never fire on our citizens, while those of the third world most certainly would. I’m not sure how true that is when speaking of police departments anymore.
Has not be true since Kent state.
I have respect for the law, but something like this should never, ever be tolerated by anybody.
There, fixed it for him.
A few years ago, two policemen from departments from side-by-side towns near here were shooting at each other!.......(over a woman, naturally!)..........
Cops never do this, except to the rare motorist who takes the trouble to record traffic stops. All the other motorists are lying.
OK... just why is this officer on suspension and not fired???
When someone is at work they need to have a certain level of detachment that isn’t required in their non working private life.
During work hours a Policeman is just that a uniformed, union, city Policeman , the part of himself that may be Craig the hard nosed guy that doesn’t take crap from A** holes can’t surface during duty hours.
In a world where we had a nation of laws and not of men, this asshole would be in jail for at least 3 years
But it seems law enforcement officers really are above the law.
Suspended, what a joke. If I did anything in my day job even close to this, I'd be fired and this guy is abusing a citizen under color of his authority which is in fact a crime. But, the cop is not even fired, let alone jailed like the criminal thug he obviously is.
There are two sets of laws. One set of laws on the books. And another set made up by LEO’s specifically used for entrapment and fabrication.
Anyone alone in a traffic stop can be abused and there is little they can prove because the Lawman is the universal truth and the defendent is pond scum.
it is very difficult to have respect for the law when the lawman abuses their authority.
Hey it’s St Louis where dead people vote. Give him a break! /sarc
That’s why it’s not recommendable to drive carelessly in any St. Louis County municipality with a population under 5000.
Someone help me here. Is this from an event not too long ago where the kid was going through a police checkpoint and part of the story involves the policeman (poorly) attempting to move the kid’s stick-shift vehicle to the extent that he was burning the clutch? I guess I’m asking if this is rather old news?
In any event, bring out the usual cop-supporter versus cop-hater arguments that regularly occur here on FR.
Notice I haven’t taken any side in this (yet). I’m just wondering if this is the story from this past spring...
A major step toward totalitarianism, is losing a police force with integrity.
Which is why SEVERE examples must be made when one is caught so clearly abusing his authority as in this case.
If there's not jail time for this guy, there is no reason for any other cop on the street to control himself and live under the same laws as the rest of us.
We are allowing them be out of control if this man is not prosecuted
The little suburb of St. George—a short strip along Reavis Barracks Rd.— is one of the two worst speed traps in the St. Louis area (the other is the town of Arnold, the two-mile stretch on I-55). Issuing tickets is how these cops pay for their jobs. Revenue enhancement for the town.
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