Speaking of training
A police sergeant whose berating of a driver was captured on videotape has been fired.
Aldermen in the town of St. George, a St. Louis suburb, voted 5-0 in a closed meeting Monday to fire Sgt. James Kuehnlein. Notice of the firing was posted Wednesday at City Hall.
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 Kuehnlein before deciding on a course of action.
September 22nd, 2007 at 10:26 am
Thank. God.
September 22nd, 2007 at 11:21 am
Fired, so he can go somewhere else and work? That’s how he got THIS job, isn’t it?
Until these thugs start paying a real price- say, arrest, charges, trial and loss of commission, nothing is going to change.
September 22nd, 2007 at 12:51 pm
He’ll probably go to Norfolk VA PD. From what I’ve heard he’ll fit in well there.
September 22nd, 2007 at 4:04 pm
This incident got a good bit of play in the local forum that focuses on Missouri gun issues, and while what appeared on the “victim”‘s recorder did actually occur, it turns out that the “victim” is a twenty-something kid who makes it a practice to cruise around looking to provoke cops into going off on him. Apparently he will drive a bit erratically, or make peculiar or sudden moves in traffic that will attract attention, and then do what he can to subtly provoke the officer(s) who stop him, running his recorder all the while. This is the fourth or fifth “unprovoked attack” the kid has recorded and distributed on the internet.
Now it is generally agreed that the cop should have shown more restraint, although one comment observed that virtually all of the “threats” were couched as questions, not direct statements of intention. And given the publicity, there was no way for this cop to stay on duty with this municipality (there are over 100 municipalities in St. Louis County, most with their own police departments.)
But after considerable discussion on our local forum, I think it was generally agreed that the cop in this case is not the devil incarnate, is not a deadly threat to all of our civil liberties, does not deserve to be burned at the stake and probably deserves another chance after being suitably chastened by this experience.
Some even think it wouldn’t be the worst thing if the kid who goes around provoking cops were to get his clock cleaned out in the woods somewhere. Off camera, of course.
September 22nd, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Well, when you’re a cop, you shouldn’t try to out-douchebag a douchebag.
September 22nd, 2007 at 7:09 pm
The moral of the story is that if you are a cop and someone baits you, don’t take the bait. If the dude is doing things to provoke you but he isn’t breaking the law, that should set of blaring alarms in your head. Once you determine that there isn’t a law being broken and the guy is being a prick, just walk away. You can’t do anything more.
The best medicine for trolls is to ignore them. Taking them out into the woods for a beatdown is just asking for MORE lawsuits and more investigations of the police.
IMO, I think that firing him was justified. This is certainly no worse than the average police sting- they provide an opportunity to break the law and the arrestee digs his own grave. This is exactly what happened here, only instead of going to prison, the cop lost his job. But this sort of thing, especially when national televised, is very educational to cops everywhere.
September 23rd, 2007 at 12:07 pm
“Some even think it wouldn’t be the worst thing if the kid who goes around provoking cops were to get his clock cleaned out in the woods somewhere. Off camera, of course.”
Hmm. There are only slightly-used gravesites available at Katyn Forest.
September 23rd, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Yeah, let’s all focus on what the victim did to get himself victimized. I mean, it isn’t like the cops go out and do things to try to attract criminals and goad them into committing a crime, is it? I mean, we wouldn’t tolerate the police pulling some sort of “sting” on us.
September 23rd, 2007 at 10:22 pm
This is the fourth or fifth “unprovoked attack” the kid has recorded and distributed on the internet.
Perhaps the problem lies not with “the kid”.
I think it was generally agreed that the cop in this case is not the devil incarnate,
Probably not. Just a criminal with a badge, who got caught and failed to hide the evidence.
is not a deadly threat to all of our civil liberties,
Strange conclusion to be drawn from the available evidence.
does not deserve to be burned at the stake
No, too much carbon emissions. A suitable confinement in an area where people “only ask questions” much like “You want a cavity search? Huh? Do ya?” and “You want another 30 days in the hole? Do you? Smart guy? Do you?”
and probably deserves another chance after being suitably chastened by this experience.
I’d really like to know what forum that is, and if it tends to be populated by other officers.
Suitable chastened, by this experience you blame on the “kid”? Why? His prior arrest and conviction didn’t manage to chasten him, why would getting caught on tape threatening perjury and false arrest, and trying to cover up said crimes (by the disappearance of the video tape) and walking away with his freedom manage to do that?
September 24th, 2007 at 12:27 am
The police have zero space to complain about entrapment.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:38 am
If you can’t take what you’re dishing out, might want to find another job.
September 24th, 2007 at 9:19 am
The cop got what he deserved. As a public servant speaking with a non violent, citizens as if he were some piece of street trash. This is where I draw the line. Everyone that is so pro cop are the very ones that have such respect for the officers and the court which is flat bull shit. I lost all respect for the court system when my step daughter was wrongfully accused of a crime for reporting to a detective the truth, and dont get me started on B.S. from Brittany Spears to O.J.
Cops when growing up had the respect of children and adult citizens alike, but now with the zero tolerance where cops body slam women at traffic stops, or tazer veterans in wheel chairs, or break the very law they are hired to support then they have lost me. It always makes me laugh when a judge says that the dress code is unacceptable and shows no “respect” for the court room…. Are you shitting me? respect for the court room? the only people that have respect for the court room are the lawyers, cops, and the man wearing the dress that are all out to screw you to the wall.
Dont get me wrong, there are crimes and criminals that deserve the worst of the worst of treatments in a court of law, but in the last 20 years it has been a huge joke and sad way to add another tax on the populas.