The Journal

Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: Opinion/Editorial

Law enforcement officers seem to be in the media spotlight more than usual. Not all officers are on a power-trip, but a select few have been profiled in local news headlines due to their abuse of authority. Most law-abiding citizens will not have encounters with the police except for a possible traffic ticket. If they do, they should be aware of their civil rights. Citizens need to report mistreatment when it occurs, so they can prevent it from happening again.

Most recently in St. Louis County, Sgt. James Keuhnlein of the St. George Police Department was fired after harassing a young man in a commuter parking lot. Citizens shouldn't have to endure harassment, threats and foul language. The St. George police officer was unjust and abused his authority. People should not look the other way if they feel they have been violated. If they take things like this lying down, nothing will be done about it, and the abuse will continue.

The man, Brett Darrow, drove his car to a commuter parking lot around 2 a.m. to meet a friend and ended up being threatened by Keuhnlein. Darrow said when the officer asked what he was doing, he responded by saying he was not breaking any laws. The officer asked him to step out of the car, only to start a verbal assault on the young man. Keuhnlein told Darrow if he talked back, he would "take him to jail for some fucking reason (Keuhnlein) came up with."

"Talk back to me again, and I bet I can say you resisted or something. You want me to come up with something? I can come up with nine things," Keuhnlein said on the tape.

Darrow captured the entire incident on a video camera he had installed in his car and posted the video on the Internet, which prompted an internal investigation at the St. George Police Department. Keuhnlein also had a video camera in his patrol car, but the tape mysteriously vanished.

Not all police departments have cameras installed in their patrol cars. Even in some departments that have cameras, it is not mandatory that the officers keep the cameras on. If they do have surveillance cameras, it should be a law that they are kept on at all times. This would protect the officer on duty as well as serve as an accountability measure. St. Louis County Police have cameras in their patrol cars and are required to keep them on. Webster Groves police do not have video surveillance cameras in their patrol cars.

Police officers have hard jobs. The people they have to interact with on a daily basis might contribute to some of the officers forming a hardened, rude attitude. Not all police officers are discourteous or out of line, but a mutual respect needs to be in place when dealing with law enforcement officers. Citizens should comply with instructions officers give them - without back talk - and officers should handle situations appropriately. People are grateful to police for the service they do in their communities. We should not be scared of the police because a few officers take their authority to dangerous levels. Citizens also should not be afraid to stand up for themselves and report incidents to the proper authorities.

Continued...

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