Nebraska Fights To Fire State Trooper Who Joined The KKK

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MrsSpringsteen

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Like the poll says on cnn.com, is membership in something like the KKK by itself enough to fire a state employee?

He's not "running around in a sheet and hood"- so that's supposed to make it somehow less concerning? :eyebrow: Regardless of his alleged reasons for joining, I would think one would espouse and support the sickening and evil views of the KKK as a member. I would assume that, and would assume he would thus have "issues" when dealing with minorities in his job. There is no evidence of that in his record, but how can that not now be a constant concern? The right to think in private what you think will inevitably intersect with your duties in that kind of job, won't it?


http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/08/26/trooper.racism.ap/index.html

OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) -- Robert Henderson was not fired as a state trooper because he belonged to the Ku Klux Klan and another white supremacist group, authorities said.

Instead, he was ousted because he could not uphold public trust while participating in such groups, they said.

An arbitrator disagreed, ordering the State Patrol to reinstate Henderson within 60 days and pay him back wages. The state went to court Friday to keep him off the force.

"The integrity of Nebraska's law enforcement is at risk," Attorney General Jon Bruning said at news conference in Lincoln. "The Constitution does not require law enforcement to employ anyone tied to the KKK."

In a summary of the causes for firing Henderson in March, the State Patrol said membership in the KKK "seriously compromised" Henderson's ability to do his job.
 
While normally I'd say that whatever you do in your private life is your own business, it is also his job to protect all the people, not just the white ones. I don't see how being a member of the KKK instills the trust necessary to be a police officer.

Melon
 
With some discomfort about some infringement on your private life being your private life, I have to agree. It's not just how a police officer/trooper does his job, it is how he perceived to be able to do his job. It may be unfair to this individual officer. I'm sure there are plenty of people capable of doing their jobs despite personally held beliefs.

"Instead, he was ousted because he could not uphold public trust while participating in such groups." That may be the crux.
Police hold a unique position.
 
He should be transfered to a New York Ghetto, that would be the right career move.
 
melon said:
While normally I'd say that whatever you do in your private life is your own business, it is also his job to protect all the people, not just the white ones. I don't see how being a member of the KKK instills the trust necessary to be a police officer.

Melon

And I don't know about all police departments, but in the one I worked in, there are certain "off duty" standards officers were expected to maintain. For instance, officers weren't to get drunkin public. Why? Because a cop never stops being a cop. If something happens when an officer is off duty, he's expected to respond in the same manner as if he's on duty. If he's drunk out of his gourd, he won't be able to respond effectively.

In the KKK case, if a black person needs police assistance, how will the person feel if the officer they send is someone that he saw at a KKK rally on the previous day?

And can the officer be trusted to help someone of a race he despises?
 
People who are in the KKK shouldn't be police officers. They can't think in terms of the public good, which is really what a police officer's job is.
 
and if a black police officer is a member of NAACP or Jackson's Rainbow organization

will the black officer be more likely to take the side of a black person in a dispute with a white person


what happened to "freedom of thought" and "freedom of association"?
 
deep said:
and if a black police officer is a member of NAACP or Jackson's Rainbow organization

Except neither the NAACP nor Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition are considered to be hate groups.

I think the only equivalent group might be the Nation of Islam (the Black Panthers would historically count, but they no longer exist). I would be curious to know if police departments also weed out minorities that belong to hate groups, albeit being fewer in number, as well.

The reality, however, is that most active hate organizations in America today are white-based, and, as such, enforcement is going to appear disproportionate, despite that not being the case.

Melon
 
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