By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
The chief of the Glasgow Police Department responded further on Tuesday to a complaint about an officer that he said during Monday’s city council meeting was a blatant lie.
The full comments GPD Chief Guy Howie made during that meeting can be viewed on the Glasgow Electric Plant Board’s YouTube account, where all council meetings are streamed and available for later viewing.
On Tuesday morning, Sheriff Kent Keen released a statement on social media saying a complaint had come to him.
“I normally do not respond to social media posts; however, a recent post has been circulated that is so outlandish and critical of law-enforcement that I see the need to state the facts of the incident,” he wrote.
In summary, he said a person posted on social media alleging that a friend of his was stopped by a deputy for speeding and the person stopped identified himself as a veteran and asked the deputy to give him a break, but the law-enforcement officer told him he wasn’t so that didn’t mean anything to him.
Keen said he spent several hours researching the incident and discovered, “The details of this incident have been fabricated.”
He went on to state that the law-enforcement official in question wasn’t even one of his deputies, but he was still compelled to defend the fellow officer because that officer “did not and would not make derogatory statements about veterans” because of his professionalism and because he is a veteran. He had spoken to Howie and obtained and viewed the body-camera footage of the traffic stop, which he said, “is very clear that none of the allegations … listed occurred.”
A few hours later, Howie responded by releasing his own written statement.
He wrote that the department takes complaints against officers very seriously, and that one of the department’s values is “RESPECT.” He said Keen had received the complaint Aug. 24 implying that one of his deputies stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation and was disrespectful, but Keen quickly realized the complaint involved GPD personnel rather than his own. Howie quoted the entire complaint, which says the person who was stopped had to pay the ticket and attend traffic school, in his response. The complaint also called for the officer to be “reprimanded/fired or at least made to apologize.”
Howie looked at the footage.
“That review showed none of the above was remotely true other than there was a traffic stop for 20mph over the posted speed limit,” Howie’s statement says. “Neither the driver nor the Officer mentioned being a veteran. In fact, the Officer is a veteran with 4 overseas deployments.”
The police chief goes on to state that before either he or Keen could respond to the complaint, the same person who apparently had sent it to Keen, “who was not anywhere near the site of the incident,” posted it on social media, causing further questions about the actions of police officers.
So, Howie said, in the interest of transparency and public trust, he is allowing the public to view the footage at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the GPD training room.
“Local law enforcement officers are committed to transparency, accountability, and respect for all members of our community. We appreciate the public’s support and understanding as we continue to uphold the highest standards of professionalism,” the statement concluded.
The training room is in the newer building across the driveway from the GPD headquarters at 101 Pin Oak Lane.
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FOR FURTHER DETAILS
The full written statement from Howie is at this link.
His comments during Monday’s council meeting begin at the 39:25 time mark at this link.
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