Police chief defends officer's conduct in cell phone video
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paucah Sun
September 14, 2016
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/police-chief-defends-officer-s-conduct-in-cell-phone-video/article_5f6209ee-5b11-11e7-a41f-10604b9f0f42.html
"Why did he say the ('N-word')?"
Those are the words first heard on a cell phone video that was posted on Facebook over the weekend in which an unknown man accuses a Paducah police officer of using a racial slur.
The video was shot early Sunday morning outside the Brickhouse, a nightclub near Lower Town in Paducah. Paducah Police Chief Brandon Barnhill said two officers had just finished dealing with a marijuana complaint at the club when the man started recording video.
Barnhill said his department was made aware of the video Sunday and immediately launched an internal review, which involved pulling dispatch records, talking to the officers involved and reviewing the officers' body camera footage.
"We grabbed ahold of all the information that we could and reviewed it, and we were able to understand that there's a different perspective and context that this cellphone video does not show," he said.
In the video, a man can be heard yelling to a police officer and asking why the officer said a racial slur. The officer can be heard responding, confirming he had said the word. It is clear the officer then tried to give an explanation, but the man recording the footage cuts him off.
"The officer attempts to say something along the line of 'I used it because I restated what this person said,'" Barnhill said. "(The officer) wasn't trying to hide anything, he had no malicious intent in saying what he said, and the (two) officers tried to have a conversation with the guy making the video, but there was no attempt by that individual nor willingness to have that conversation."
Barnhill said officers were initially called to the Brickhouse at about 1 a.m. by the nightclub's owner, who wanted them to help remove a group of patrons who were allegedly smoking marijuana inside the club.
As they were exiting the club, Barnhill said one of the people that had been asked to leave made a comment to one of the officers containing a racial slur.
"The officer then restated exactly what was said to him and a bystander overheard and instigated the whole situation seen in the cell phone video," Barnhill said.
After reviewing the officer's body camera footage, Barnhill said although the officer should not have repeated the word, he believes the officer did not do so with any malicious intent.
"Part of our internal review will be to look at the situation and see how it could have been handled differently," he said. "That's something that we will work through and it's an opportunity for us to learn from this."
In order to gain some outside perspective, Barnhill said Monday night he called an impromptu meeting of the Chief's Community Forum, a group of local pastors and educators who provide the department with perspective on racial and social issues, and asked them to review the body camera footage and give him their assessment.
"The forum unanimously stated that the officer did not mean any malicious intent by his comment," Barnhill said. "There was no concern by the forum group that the officer was being racist by making this comment. He simply restated what was said to him."
One member, the Rev. Reynarldo Henderson, senior pastor at Washington Street Baptist Church, took to Facebook after viewing the police footage, stating he did not believe the officer spoke with any racist intent.
"While we all agreed that it was poor judgment for this police officer to repeat what was being said by these young men, he did not call these young men the 'N-word', nor were his remarks of a racist intent," the post read.
The reverend went on to explain the body camera footage showed the officer later apologized for using the word and any offense he may have caused, and the two then shook hands.
"I was not asked nor encouraged to make this post," Henderson wrote. "However, I feel it is my responsibility to tell â ¦ the rest of the story. If we are going to make progress in this area of race relations and reconciliation, we must be honest and transparent."
Barnhill said the department's internal review is ongoing, but he doesn't not foresee any disciplinary action being taken against the officer.
"If this had been a racial slur that was meant to be derogatory, that would be handled much differently. We will not tolerate something like that," he said. "But in this case, the officer was not intending to be malicious."
Barnhill said the video is a stark reminder that the videos of police officers that are posted daily to social media sites are often taken out of context.
"Day in and day out we see images of police officers across the country, whether it be live images or something recorded or still images, that are often taken out of context, and do not accurately paint the entire picture of what's happening," he said. "And, unfortunately we have a society that is very quick to judge. The only thing I would ask of our community is that they allow us time in these types of situations for us to be able to respond before they come to a conclusion."
Those are the words first heard on a cell phone video that was posted on Facebook over the weekend in which an unknown man accuses a Paducah police officer of using a racial slur.
The video was shot early Sunday morning outside the Brickhouse, a nightclub near Lower Town in Paducah. Paducah Police Chief Brandon Barnhill said two officers had just finished dealing with a marijuana complaint at the club when the man started recording video.
Barnhill said his department was made aware of the video Sunday and immediately launched an internal review, which involved pulling dispatch records, talking to the officers involved and reviewing the officers' body camera footage.
"We grabbed ahold of all the information that we could and reviewed it, and we were able to understand that there's a different perspective and context that this cellphone video does not show," he said.
In the video, a man can be heard yelling to a police officer and asking why the officer said a racial slur. The officer can be heard responding, confirming he had said the word. It is clear the officer then tried to give an explanation, but the man recording the footage cuts him off.
"The officer attempts to say something along the line of 'I used it because I restated what this person said,'" Barnhill said. "(The officer) wasn't trying to hide anything, he had no malicious intent in saying what he said, and the (two) officers tried to have a conversation with the guy making the video, but there was no attempt by that individual nor willingness to have that conversation."
Barnhill said officers were initially called to the Brickhouse at about 1 a.m. by the nightclub's owner, who wanted them to help remove a group of patrons who were allegedly smoking marijuana inside the club.
As they were exiting the club, Barnhill said one of the people that had been asked to leave made a comment to one of the officers containing a racial slur.
"The officer then restated exactly what was said to him and a bystander overheard and instigated the whole situation seen in the cell phone video," Barnhill said.
After reviewing the officer's body camera footage, Barnhill said although the officer should not have repeated the word, he believes the officer did not do so with any malicious intent.
"Part of our internal review will be to look at the situation and see how it could have been handled differently," he said. "That's something that we will work through and it's an opportunity for us to learn from this."
In order to gain some outside perspective, Barnhill said Monday night he called an impromptu meeting of the Chief's Community Forum, a group of local pastors and educators who provide the department with perspective on racial and social issues, and asked them to review the body camera footage and give him their assessment.
"The forum unanimously stated that the officer did not mean any malicious intent by his comment," Barnhill said. "There was no concern by the forum group that the officer was being racist by making this comment. He simply restated what was said to him."
One member, the Rev. Reynarldo Henderson, senior pastor at Washington Street Baptist Church, took to Facebook after viewing the police footage, stating he did not believe the officer spoke with any racist intent.
"While we all agreed that it was poor judgment for this police officer to repeat what was being said by these young men, he did not call these young men the 'N-word', nor were his remarks of a racist intent," the post read.
The reverend went on to explain the body camera footage showed the officer later apologized for using the word and any offense he may have caused, and the two then shook hands.
"I was not asked nor encouraged to make this post," Henderson wrote. "However, I feel it is my responsibility to tell â ¦ the rest of the story. If we are going to make progress in this area of race relations and reconciliation, we must be honest and transparent."
Barnhill said the department's internal review is ongoing, but he doesn't not foresee any disciplinary action being taken against the officer.
"If this had been a racial slur that was meant to be derogatory, that would be handled much differently. We will not tolerate something like that," he said. "But in this case, the officer was not intending to be malicious."
Barnhill said the video is a stark reminder that the videos of police officers that are posted daily to social media sites are often taken out of context.
"Day in and day out we see images of police officers across the country, whether it be live images or something recorded or still images, that are often taken out of context, and do not accurately paint the entire picture of what's happening," he said. "And, unfortunately we have a society that is very quick to judge. The only thing I would ask of our community is that they allow us time in these types of situations for us to be able to respond before they come to a conclusion."
