Probe of Bowling Green police officers' conduct is requested

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Bowling Green is seeking an investigation into the conduct of two police officers.
The request comes after Mayor David Koester was given a verbal warning for speeding, even though the officer who stopped him reported Koester appeared to be drunk, had an open beer bottle in the car and apparently had no valid proof of insurance.
City Administrator J.D. Kehrman said Tuesday he has asked for an outside probe of the case, but declined to name the agency until he gets a reply to his request.
“I think the actions of my officers merit review,” Kehrman said. “I’m not in a position to determine whether they were right or wrong. Instead, I’ve asked a qualified third-party to conduct this review and report their findings.”
Kehrman cannot call for an investigation of the mayor because Koester is Kehrman’s boss, but he does have the authority to seek a probe of staff members’ conduct.
Kehrman said that he has “to do what’s appropriate, and I think a third-party review is appropriate.”
Interim Police Chief Dave Oney referred questions to Kehrman and City Attorney Jim Burlison declined to comment. Koester was not available for comment Tuesday.
Kehrman said that, given the alleged circumstances, he would have requested a similar review even if the mayor was not involved.
“The person driving the car is not my concern,” said Kehrman, who added that an investigation would focus upon procedures and not personalities.

The stop
Written and audio records obtained by the Courier-Post show Koester was pulled over for speeding by part-time Officer Brian Czarnecki.
It happened at 10:16 p.m. May 30 at the intersection of Business Highway 61 and Highway 161 on the south side of Bowling Green.
Czarnecki, who joined the department last October, reported his radar gun clocked Koester going 57 miles per hour in a 35 miles per hour zone.
A recorder in Czarnecki’s patrol car captured 15 minutes and 55 seconds of the conversation between him, the mayor and assisting officer Sgt. Russ Schaible.
As Czarnecki approached the car, he told the driver the reason for the traffic stop. Koester is heard to say he was “just going home.”
Czarnecki then asked Koester if he’d been drinking.
“I’ve had a couple of beers,” Koester replied.
Later, in a written report, Czarnecki said he “observed that Mr. Koester’s eyes were glassy and watery, and his speech was slurred.”
The officer then asked for proof of insurance.
“Do you know who I am?” Koester asked. “I’m the mayor of Bowling Green.”
Though apparently a bit surprised, Czarnecki continued his duties. He found that the proof of insurance Koester provided apparently was outdated.
The officer returned to his car and radioed for backup. When Schaible arrived, Czarnecki said “I got the mayor pulled over.”
“Did you arrest him?” asked Schaible, who joined the department in October 2004.
“No,” Czarnecki responded. “I got balls, but not that big.”
Czarnecki told Schaible that Koester had “had a few” and that there was a “faint odor of alcohol” in the car, but that the mayor likely “could pass a sobriety” check.
In his written report, Czarnecki called the scent of alcohol coming from the car “a modertate odor of intoxicating beverages.”
The two officers discussed how to proceed. They talked about letting Koester drive home. Schaible says “Hope he doesn’t crash.”
At one point, Schaible asks “Anybody else, you’d write a ticket, wouldn’t you?”
After several minutes, Czarnecki returned to Koester’s car and asked the mayor if anyone could come pick him up.
Koester called his wife, Sherry, on a cellphone, saying “I need you to come get me...the police have stopped me.”
“It should be noted Mr. Koester stumbled when he exited his vehicle and staggered when he walked to his wife’s vehicle,” Czarnecki later wrote in his report.
While the written report says Koester was given “verbal warnings on multiple traffic/ordinance violations,” the patrol car tape recording appears to have captured only the warning about speeding.

The aftermath
No charges have been filed and no disciplinary action has been taken against the officers, who remain on duty and are among about 15 uniformed officers in the department.
“At this point, I don’t expect any disciplinary actions,” Kehrman said Tuesday.
Kehrman said the police department has procedures for handling traffic stops, but declined to discuss the situational nature of officer discretion in issuing tickets or making arrests.
However, he said it is “quite common” for complaints to arise from traffic stops. He said he still has “great confidence” in the abilities of the police department.
“I think they’ve done an outstanding job serving the people of this community,” Kehrman said. “I think this particular event is worthy of a little deeper analysis.”
The latest incident isn’t the first involving Koester, who was elected mayor in April 2008.
Last August, a tavern owner accused Koester of threatening to pull his liquor license after the mayor allegedly intervened when the bar refused to serve a person who accompanied Koester but appeared to be underage and couldn’t produce identification.
The liquor license was not pulled and the tavern remained open. Kehrman compiled a report saying he had notified Burlison of the incident.
The matter was turned over to aldermen, but no further action was taken.