To Curse and Protect

You shouldn't have to carry a recording device in your car just in case you get pulled over by the police. But sometimes it helps. Such was the case when, just the other day, a foul-mouthed Missouri cop threatened to make up charges against a driver during a traffic stop. Unfortunately for the officer, he got caught on tape.

[James] Kuehnlein, a St. George officer for about two years, approaches a young man [Brett Darrow] 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."

It's pretty obvious who's the one with the unhealthy attitude here.

Comments

[somebody]

And once again, public servants have no privacy while on duty. Anything else is authoritarianism.

[smurfy]

In the video, one of the officer's made up claims is that the driver did not use his turn signal when he pulled into the parking lot. The video clearly shows the driver using his turn signal.

I need to get one of these cameras installed. But which is worse, a traffic ticket, maybe a vehicle search, or felony wire tapping charges?

[Jeff Wiebe]

Privacy while on duty? Privacy *about* their discharging of that duty?

Where on earth would they get that expectation, 'somebody'? Such so-called privacy would put them at risk as much as the citizens they are to serve and protect.

[Arcanum]

Cheap in car camera systems for all and sundry. A panic button that sends the signal back to a base station to prevent you (and your camera) from turning up missing.

The wackos in the Police need to be removed by the cops, not the public.

[Billy Beck]

You think that's a bad attitude?

Getta loada this --

http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/19/1967.asp

[Peter Parker]

An interesting statement from the editor-in-chief of Officer.com, in a piece about the St. George incident: "And we all know of cops that are routinely abusive, and have no business being cops."

If true, it would be a large part of the problem, good officers ignoring the problems with bad officers (a concern many have expressed before).

He also said, "The stated intention of these crusaders is to stop police harassment and make the public aware of abuses of authority. But when you look a bit more closely, you’ll find that most have some serious problems with living within the law. They’re far less concerned with civil rights violations than they are with intimidating cops into overlooking their transgressions."

If officers are acting lawfully, it is unlikely cameras will intimidate officers into letting people off the hook, so this purported strategy of the "crusaders" is unlikely to work. The author here even calls for more recording of police activity, thus supporting the notion that cameras are not a deterrent to proper police behavior.

Here the full discussion (much of which is actually aimed at promoting better police behavior):
http://www.officer.com/interactive/2007/09/14/stgeorge/

Lastly, there are more police troubles in Missouri, including one from Chief Uhrig's old department:

"Arnold officer resigns after restaurant flap"
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/776F3D8D77530284862573560017AE78?OpenDocument

"Officers involved in bar room fight"
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/11F9B8C6D05DC95B8625735600120321?OpenDocument

[Peter Parker]

St. Louis talk show host Paul Harris has had Brett Darrow on his show twice now. Both interviews are worth listening to (if you are following this story).

Here's one:
http://paulharrisonline.blogspot.com/2007/09/cop-gone-wild-follow-up.html

And the other:
http://paulharrisonline.blogspot.com/2007/09/cop-gone-wild.html