Police dash cam(released August 12/09) – KALAMAZOO Video of an incident that led to a Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety sergeant’s unpaid suspension last week shows the officer punched a handcuffed 16-year-old three times after the youth spit in his face. Sgt. Jeff VanderWiere, 37, was suspended last week for 10 work days after an Office of Professional Standards investigation into the April More..incident. The Kalamazoo Police Supervisors Association has filed a grievance on the suspension. The video and police documents related to the case and VanderWiere, a 12-year department veteran, were released by the city Tuesday after the Gazette filed a request under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. The images, captured from the mobile-video recording unit inside Officer Travis Ulberg’s patrol cruiser, shows the teen was with two other people when he was approached by VanderWiere and another officer at 1:45 am on April 5 in the 1300 block of Cobb Avenue on the city’s north side. A report from another officer said the teen appeared to be intoxicated. The video shows him becoming confrontational and screaming profanities at the two officers who were investigating reports of gunshots being fired in the area. The teen matched a description given to police when the gunshots were reported, according to the police documents. The teen was eventually handcuffed, but he and one of the other boys with him attempted to run from officers. VanderWiere wrestled the teen to the …
Video Rating: 4 / 5