Sheriff's Deputy Fired For Harassing Journalist Taking Photos Of An Arrest On A Public Street
from the protecting-citizens-rather-than-deputies:-so-crazy-it-might-work dept
Here's something that's all too uncommon in the police world, so enjoy the moment.
A King County sheriff’s deputy who threatened to arrest an editor for The Stranger weekly newspaper during a sidewalk confrontation in July has been fired by Sheriff John Urquhart.According to the complaint filed by Dominic Holden (the editor who was harassed), Deputy Saulet became "agitated and confrontational" when he noticed Holden taking pictures of an arrest that occurred on a public street. An internal investigation found that Saulet "recast" the confrontation to put it in a more favorable light, deliberately obscuring the fact that he threatened to arrest Holden for (basically) performing his job and "misidentifying" public property as private property. Another deputy, John Marion, was suspended for a day (without pay) over the same incident, after it came to light that he threatened to harass Holden at his workplace.
Deputy Patrick Saulet, a 27-year veteran with a troubled disciplinary history, was terminated at the end of the business day Monday, according to Urquhart.
So far, so good. Rather than letting this slide, the sheriff fired the deputy. Surprisingly, the strongest words used against Saulet came from the letter accompanying his pink slip -- written by his former boss, Sheriff Urquhart.
“Your ill-advised actions also play to some of the most basic fears among some citizens, which is that a police officer may indiscriminately exercise his or her power in violation of their rights, because in the event of a complaint, the officer will just deny the allegation and ‘circle the wagons’ with his or her fellow officers on the expectation they will take care of their own.”This is a rather bold admission of the attitude that's almost omnipresent in law enforcement agencies across the nation. The "basic fears" Urquhart writes of aren't unfounded. Example after example exists of LEOs making up the rules as they go along (and reinterpreting laws on the spot), secure in the knowledge that the system will protect them. (And in some cases, return them to their jobs despite their supervisors' obvious desire to be rid of them.) Firing Saulet is a small step towards restoring the public's trust. But lurking behind this stark acknowledgement of the corrupted system is more evidence that the system -- even Sheriff Urquhart's -- is still severely broken.
Saulet was demoted from sergeant last year after Urquhart found he had harassed a family in a vehicle that had made a wrong turn into an area reserved for King County Metro Transit vehicles.Saulet has been a problem for a long time. That the Sheriff is unwilling to let this last one slide isn't really a victory -- it's simply the end result of an ugly history that could no longer be ignored. An action like this should have been taken long before Saulet racked up his 21st sustained complaint. And, unfortunately, Saulet still has the option to work with an arbitrator to reclaim his position -- a position of responsibility and power he's clearly unfit to fill.
Overall, Urquhart wrote, Saulet had been the subject of about 120 allegations, with 21 sustained. Saulet had racked up more complaints on the force than any other King County deputy, according to a demotion letter previously obtained by The Stranger.
So, it's a small step forward for the King County Sheriff's Department, but one that follows several steps backwards. A sustained movement forward is what's needed to start shifting the balance of power back towards King County residents. Urquhart seems to be ready to do exactly that, but Saulet's long rap sheet points to a long history of "circled wagons" and ineffective wrist slaps.
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Filed Under: dominic holden, john urquhart, king county, patrick saulet, police
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Where's the DOJ?
I guess they are too busy trying to figure out how to crucify MegaUpload and Edward Snowden, at the same time appeasing Hollywood and their various minions, whilst all along preparing to use Drones on US citizens on US soil without a trial, facilitated by lying to congress and various judges.
Ok, we have means and opportunity, motive anyone?
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Re: Where's the DOJ?
Get a chair. You'll need while you wait this to happen. And a few more centuries probably.
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I'm not suggesting any action. I'm just saying look at history.
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I remember when all the uprising was going on in Egypt, and when they finally threw Mubarak out, a bunch of people were saying "we're free now." That's when I knew they were doomed, because they didn't get it. I said, if they can establish a replacement government that guarantees basic, universal civil rights and religious freedom, and keep Islamic theocratic ideas out of it, for five years, then they can truly say they're free. But of course that's not what they did, and just look at where Egypt is now...
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Given the whining, I'd say it was Darryl. Expect barnyard noises.
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From people and household pets being killed in no knock warrants only to find it being the wrong household, right down to the militarization of the local police force in their home towns.
Hardly a month goes by here at Techdirt that some article isn't put up for all to see that carries this theme on while the national media seeks to disguise these same events by no coverage at all.
Time and again we see that police officers appear to be deathly afraid of the camera wielded by a citizen or a local news reporter in what looks to be a phobia of being scared of being seen in images of not doing their jobs as they are charged to uphold.
It is precisely events such as this that is destroying that unity. The idea that it took 120 events of which 21 were ruled valid says that more than I can. The question in my mind is just how many more which were not found valid were.
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Here's the law allowing 21 strikes against one officer before action is taken, but serving a public with incarcerating criminals who only get 3 before serving life sentences.
There's something wrong with this picture, but I can't quite put my fingerprint on it.
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Or how if you repeatedly deceived and lied to a judge, you'd be jailed for criminal contempt and conspiracy?
Does not apply to government officials, officers of the court and the "connected" class. Silly person!
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It is to the left of the "funny" button. Mike has it mislabeled as "insightful".
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At the end of the day
And there's still too many police departments happy to ignore them, let alone fire them.
Kudos to that Sheriff. Perhaps his pink slip explanation should be emailed to every police department in the country for future reference.
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Police vs. The Citizens
They can't know that the camera pointed at them isn't a weapon. But they should assume that it isn't. They are not in Iraq and Afghanistan. They are on US soil. They are not in a war. They are civilian police officers. Geez, even the military understands that they should win the hearts and minds of the local citizenry. Yet police departments seem to believe it's a good idea to alienate the local citizens they are supposed to serve and protect.
Assuming that every camera is a weapon is exactly part of the problem. They see everything as Police vs. Citizens. They need banish that thinking. Police are citizens, who have accepted a privileged position. They need to recognize the responsibility in their hands and act accordingly.
I do understand that there are dangerous areas that more closely resemble a war zone than a neighborhood. Of course, police should act accordingly. But the police need to recognize that not every street in the USA is a war zone. In fact the vast majority are not.
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And these are the people we trust to protect us?
I'm tired of the the old police excuse of "I'm dumb as shit and have no common sense so I have to assume..."
I call bullshit.
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And that can of soda, that might be filled with fuel to start a fire...
What about that pen, is it a pen, or perhaps it's a detonator to something...
Spare me, if a cop is so paranoid that they're worrying about a camera because it might be a gun(and I don't believe for a second that more than a handful actually do, they know full well it's a camera, they just don't want their activities recorded), then they need to be off the force, and put into psych counseling, as it's obvious they're burned out and have let the 'Us vs. Them' mentality affect them to a dangerous degree.
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We need what they've got in Japan as far as training of cops is concerned...
Law enforcement in Japan-Conditions of service
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It's because a gun and a camera look nothing alike. If someone given authority to carry a gun and enforce laws can't tell the difference between a camera and a gun then you have to question whether they should be granted that authority.
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FTFY, and thanks for being part of the problem.
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C'mmon, they hired him in the first place, "trained", and then tolerated the moron for so many years.
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http://magicvalley.com/news/local/officer-shoots-service-dog-at-boy-s-th-birthday-party/article _5e989a44-928a-11e3-b2a5-0019bb2963f4.html
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they have laws too
what we are seeing here is the 121 strikes and you're out rule. :-P
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Harsher penalties, no harsher then a firing, dependant on the crime.......YES, CRIME........im sick and tired of the "law keepers" not being described for what they are in an action they take, because it feels "weird" to do so........i recognise my conditioning
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about time
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COPture, Police Policer, Rap-App, Bust Trust.....
Or perhaps a device that does the same thing....
Something needs to become available to the public to combat this blatant disregard for civil rights and law by what passes today for police officers, as it does not appear that its going to get any better any time soon, and in fact seems to be getting worse every day.
I'm actually thinking of something like a First Alert devise but specifically for recording false arrests and cell phone confiscations (or even muggings and robberies) that has an instant download aspect to prevent LEOs from erasing the evidence. It would be best if it looked perhaps like a heavy key-ring or wrist watch.
If nothing like this exists, it might be an interesting Crowd-sourced Project.
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Re: COPture, Police Policer, Rap-App, Bust Trust.....
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