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The first time I watched the video of Jason Harley Kloepfer being shot, my heart stopped. The hairs on my arm stood at attention. My stomach began to churn. Even in an era where it seems like there’s a camera on every corner, what this video shows is one of the most egregious, unnecessary law enforcement shootings I’ve ever seen.
The State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting, so it may be some time before we have the full story of what happened in the early morning hours of Dec. 13 at 1790 Upper Bear Paw Road. But what we do know from the video is bad enough – Kloepfer was not being aggressive nor confrontational, and he was doing exactly as officers with Cherokee Indian Police Department SWAT ordered him to when he stepped outside the door of his home with his hands raised above his head.
Yet, Kloepfer still took two bullets to the chest. Incredibly, he was still fortunate at the same time, as gunshots heard in the video make it sound like as many as 10 rounds could have been fired.
Thanks to the video, we know the first press release issued by the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office after this incident was inaccurate. Sheriff Dustin Smith admitted in a second press release that information for the first release came primarily from Cherokee Indian Police, but since he and several members of his staff were at the scene or a nearby staging area at the time, why did he have to rely on another department’s information?
That’s only one of the questions that need to be answered moving forward. Perhaps the first question should be, why was SWAT called in the first place?
According to multiple former and retired officers who I’ve spoken with in the last two weeks, “communicating threats” does not require a SWAT team to execute such an arrest warrant. This kind of incident is handled by departments large and small as a matter of routine.
The perspective of those I’ve spoken with is just about any seasoned law enforcement officer could have diffused and handled this incident in a professional manner. While it’s great that younger people are still entering the law enforcement field, there are few veterans to mentor them. Even the best education and advanced certifications will not fully prepare anyone for such an incident – nor outweigh the wisdom of someone with years of real policing experience.
In response, Smith has suggested that Cherokee County should develop its own SWAT. But how would having a SWAT funded by local taxpayers, who may already be on the hook for at least part of the inevitable lawsuit, have led to a different outcome on Dec. 18? Our officers would likely have received the exact same equipment and training as those with Cherokee Indian Police.
While Smith at least is trying to be responsive in sharing information, no such luck from Cherokee Indian Police. Since the U.S. Constitution doesn’t necessarily apply to the tribe, we may never know what, if any, measures are taken to hold the SWAT officers accountable.
Cherokee County would be well served by using this incident as a jumping-off point for accountability in law enforcement. For years, commissioners have given sheriffs pretty much whatever they ask for because they didn’t want to seem like they are guilty of “defunding the police.” However, taxpayers have a right to ask for accountability in return.
One solid place to start would be for the sheriff’s office to work with someone hired by the county to compile local crime statistics to share monthly during commissioners’ meetings. The numbers will give officials solid information to base their decisions on, something that’s not always happening today.
Another good way to increase accountability and transparency is to make it mandatory that officers responding to any calls where deadly force may become necessary to have a body cam in use.
While many people seem most interested in passing blame after something like this – hence the horrible threats that arrived last week – I’m more interested in making sure it never happens again. Our citizens deserve to know they can “back the blue” – with their voice and with their tax dollars – and feel great about it.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. You can reach him by phone, 837-5122; email, dbrown@cherokeescout.com; or Twitter @daviddBstroh.