PHOTO: KKK cop should lose his law-enforcement certification, says former boss

[Bluebear]

Fruitland Park police officer James Elkins (right) in his KKK regalia.


FRUITLAND PARK - A Lake County police officer who resigned amid a probe into his association with the Ku Klux Klan should lose his law-enforcement certification, his former boss said Wednesday.

Fruitland Park police Chief J. M. Isom said he petitioned the Florida Department of Law Enforcement this week to revoke James Elkins' certification. He alleged Elkins is no longer fit to serve as a police officer -- not only because of his involvement with a hate group but because he lied to the chief under oath.

"If he'll lie to me, he'll lie in court," Isom said Wednesday. "I don't tolerate lying."

Elkins could not be reached for comment. His cell-phone number is no longer in service. State law prohibits authorities from disclosing his home address.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/orl-kkk1209feb12,0,1969506.story

[graywarrior]

1. They look like complete fools

[143tbone]

6. I second that.

How can they look at themselves in a mirror and feel like men? Like human beings even. Stupid little pointy heads with beady little holes cut out. How dignified, how manly. To hide your identity under most circumstances is a very cowardly thing to do. I said most because there are a few instances where it's a good idea. I'll leave that up to everyone's imagination though.

[jberryhill]

18. Oh, I dunno, that green robe is quite the outfit /nt

[uppityperson]

2. Good grief. k&r eom

[democracy1st]

3. I knew that sh.. was either in Florida or Tx,not to say it doesn't happen everywhere

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

4. They look like morans.

[Stevenmarc]

5. Who knew they celebrate St Patricks day

[SoCalDem]

8. St. Patrickkk's Day

:rofl:

bastard-losers

[EmilyAnne]

26. With red boobies!

[20score]

7. Comedy and disgust are dueling it out. Are they more of a joke or more like

whale shit. I say it's a tie. Disgusting as they are, they still elicit a laugh.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

9. Believe it or not,

I'm conflicted on this one.

Our freedom of association makes me think the guy can join whatever he wants and do whatever he wants in his private life. As long as they're not doing anything illegal, they're legit.

That they're disgusting is of no relevance. He should not be punished for being an idiot.

This is America, and as hateful as his views may be, they are his, and his right to free speech, his freedom to associate with whomever he chooses, those things matter.

Now that they know his beliefs regarding race, they may want to assign him to some kind of clerical job where he's away from other people, just to protect other people.

But, there is also a part of me that shouts loudly, "Fire that fucker's ass."

I'm gonna go with the side that respects the Constitution, though, and say that I think the guy's being railroaded, and it's not fair.

[47of74]

11. I lean more towards fire that cocksucker

Because the fact is that if we don't hold cops to the absolute highest of standards we wind up with idiots who think that a badge, gun, and police powers are licenses to prey upon others.

[Bluebear]

23. Please don't use "cocksucker" as an insult :)

Thanks!

[TorchTheWitch]

24. Thank you

I really hate that too. :)

[Eryemil]

35. I don't think any "cocksucker" would have so little sense

(Or wear those hideous outfits - great gods!)

[20score]

12. Normally I would agree with you on the freedom aspect. (ACLU member) but the job he has demands

a higher bar. The group has a history of terrorist acts and they openly avow that some races are less and don't deserve equality. No state would give a member of NAMBLA a license to run a daycare, nor should any state give a gun to a KKK member. But, love your commitment to freedom - wish more had it.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

13. NAMBLA does illegal stuff,

and so does the Klan. We all know what they are

But punishing for membership? Without having committed one overt illegal act?

No, I can't in good conscience hold with it. That's why I suggested he be given a clerical job, not anything that would involve contact with the public.

I was a young volunteer ACLU attorney in the Skokie matter. It's nice to know my heart's not changed over the years. Funny how your guts just won't let you lie, eh?

[20score]

15. Well, good on you!

I don't agree in this instance, but I see your point. (Skokie must have been tough, too.)

[mrbarber]

28. He lied to his superior officers face.

That is grounds for dismissal right there. The Klan association is just icing on the cake.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

31. Yes,

we already discussed this in a thread here. I am left wondering, though, if he'd lied about his membership in the American Legion what might have happened to him.

[Dr.Phool]

51. I think it's one of the qualifications to be a cop in Florida.

[EFerrari]

21. The KKK is a terrorist organization. n/t

[Tangerine LaBamba]

29. How so?

Preaching hate is allowed in our country. It's horrible, and painful, but hateful speech is the speech that needs the most protection.

[EFerrari]

34. You can't be serious. SLPC: A Hundred Years of Terror

A Hundred Years of Terror

A special report prepared
by the
Southern Poverty Law Center
Montgomery, AL 36104

The Ku Klux Klan's long history of violence grew out of the resentment and hatred many white Southerners felt in the aftermath of the Civil War. Blacks, having won the struggle for freedom from slavery, were now faced with a new struggle against widespread racism and the terrorism of the Ku Klux Klan. While the menace of the KKK has peaked and waned over the years, it has never vanished.

The bare facts about the birth of the Ku Klux Klan and its revival half a century later are baffling to most people today. Little more than a year after it was founded, the secret society thundered across the war-torn South, sabotaged Reconstruction governments and imposed a reign of terror and violence that lasted three or four years. And then as rapidly as it had spread, the Klan faded into the history books. After World War I a new version of the Klan sputtered to life and brought many parts of the nation under its paralyzing grip of racism and bloodshed. Then, having grown to be a major force for the second time, the Klan again receded into the background. This time it never quite disappeared, but it never again commanded such widespread support.

Today it seems incredible that an organization so violent, so opposed to the American principles of justice and equality, could twice in the nation's history have held such power. How did the Ku Klux Klan - one of the nation's first terrorist groups - so instantly seize the South in the aftermath of the Civil War? Why did it so quickly vanish? How could it have risen so rapidly to power in the 1920's and then so rapidly loose that power? And why is this ghost of the Civil War still haunting America today with hatred, violence and sometimes death for its enemies and its own members?

The answers do not lie on the surface of American history; they are deeper than the events of the turbulent 1960's, the parades and cross burnings and lynching of the 1920's, beyond even the Reconstruction era and the Civil War. The story begins, really, on the frontier, where successive generations of Americans learned hard lessons about survival. Those lessons produced some of the qualities of life for which the nation is most admired--fierce individualism, enterprising inventiveness and the freedom to be whatever a person wants to be and go wherever a new road leads.

But the frontier spirit included other traits as well, and one was a stubborn reliance on "frontier justice" - an instant, private, and often violent method of settling differences without involving lawyers or courts. Vigilante justice became the motivation for many who later rode with the Ku Klux Klan.

http://vlib.iue.it/history/USA/ERAS/klukluxklan.html

[Bluebear]

42. Good heavens.

Of all the things you think you would not have to school somebody about, eh?

[EFerrari]

44. I'm surprised no one brought the issue up earlier in the thread.

But, I'm also surprised that cop wasn't de-coppified automatically, too. lol

:hi:

[Tangerine LaBamba]

47. The issue isn't the KKK or its history

Everyone knows what the Klan is. To think otherwise is just plain silly.

You're after a red herring if you focus there, though.

The issue is the Constitutionally guaranteed freedom of association, as enumerated in the First Amendment.

Note that the man isn't being dismissed because of his membership in the Klan, but, rather, because he lied about it.

It would be illegal to fire him because he belongs to a grotesque organization like the Klan. That's what freedom of association is all about.

Going off about the Klan's history is irrelevant in this matter.

[EFerrari]

48. I would dearly love to see a cop retain his certification for belonging to al Qaida.

The only red herring here is the massive double standard.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

49. You're off target -

the organization is, of course, the real reason they want to get rid of him, but, legally, they can't do that.

So, they're going to nail him - legitimately - for having lied about his membership in the Klan.

[EFerrari]

50. That's precisely my point. The Klan was and IS a terrorist organization.

If similar pictures of him surfaced taken in PAKISTAN, he'd be hooded, shackled and rendered. There would be no question of his serving as a LEO.

[Number23]

57. "Going off about the Klan's history is irrelevant in this matter."

The Klan's history is the only thing that matters. And their campaign of murder, rape, theft and hate have caused more American deaths and misery than Al Qaeda could only dream about...

[libnnc]

41. Google Greensboro Massacre n/t.

[Irreverend IX]

36. Being a cop isn't a constitutional right.

The department should be able to fire people who engage in activities that reflect negatively on their ability to perform police duties, and KKK membership definitely qualifies. Police departments should be required to provide a valid rationale for why an activity is grounds for termination, to prevent them from firing people for totally frivolous reasons, but it's pretty cut and dried in this case.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

38. No one said that being a cop

was a constitutional right. That would be an absurd claim.

The Constitution, however, does protect freedom of association. And if we were to start punishing people for their associations with groups we may or may not approve of, that's a dangerous and (thankfully) illegal form of discrimination.

Your stance is ill-informed, but I understand how these groups arouse such illogical passions. This man isn't going to be fired for belonging to the KKK - I doubt they could do that and not bring the full force of the law down on themselves - but because he lied about his membership, which is a perfectly valid for terminating his employment.

Be very careful about people's freedom of association. The next group that might not meet someone's standards might be yours, and then we're in a big mess.

[treestar]

56. He has freedom of association but a cop might be held to a standard of

fairness to the community - they can fire him not for his association or for his views but because they think his temperament would not allow even handed policing. If you clearly believe one race is better than another, you're likely to suspect nonwhites where you wouldn't suspect whites, etc.

[annarbor]

59. I hear what you're saying

but this cop thinks that his certification should be yanked....
His credibility amounts to a hill of beans when he's a card carrying Klan member.

Ann Arbor

[Mind_your_head]

10. Best/most succinct/important line and TOTALLY CORRECT right here:

"If he'll lie to me, he'll lie in court," Isom said Wednesday.

THAT's why he should be fired!

[Tangerine LaBamba]

14. Yes

On that we agree.

It's a roundabout, and legitimate, way of getting rid of the guy.

It works for me.

[Mind_your_head]

16. It's NOT "roundabout" - It's THE legitimate reason! eom

[Tangerine LaBamba]

17. I wonder

what would have happened to him if he'd lied about belonging to the American Legion.

It's roundabout.

[Mind_your_head]

19. I edited it out in the earlier post. I shouldn't have. Here's the whole quote...

"If he'll lie to me, he'll lie in court," Isom said Wednesday. "I don't tolerate lying."

Succinct.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

20. Yeah, I read that.

Succinct, and also very effective. Untouchable.

I still wonder about that imaginary American Legion membership, though.

[Mind_your_head]

22. Stick with the facts. That's good advice.

Peace and g'nite to you! :hi:

M_Y_H

[Tangerine LaBamba]

30. Can't go wrong with that,

can you?

The facts, however, are always subject to human interpretation. That's why "truth" is sometimes so hard to discern.

Well, from here, it's good morning.

:toast:

[TWiley]

25. "Fruit Land Park" LMAO

A photo of three rotten apples.

Good for Chief Isom for his common sense and reason. We need more people like him in this world.

[dmr]

27. Briefly lived there and hated it

FP does have some good qualities, I can't deny that, but I hated the closed minded nosy people, and couldn't get out fast enough. I don't doubt there are other closed-minded ignorants wearing badges.

There's a saying there about how they can make a body disappear - ie alligators.

Good for the chief.

[lame54]

32. Remember this song?...

Killing in the name of!

Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses
Huh!

Killing in the name of!
Killing in the name of

And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
But now you do what they told ya
Well now you do what they told ya

Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're your chosen whites
You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're your chosen whites
Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're your chosen whites
You justify those who died by wearing the badge, they're your chosen whites

Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses
Some of those that work forces, are the same that burn crosses
Uggh!

Killing in the name of!
Killing in the name of

And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya, now you're under control
And now you do what they told ya!

Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Come on!

Yeah! Come on!

F*** you, I won't do what you tell me
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me!
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me!
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me!
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me!
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me!
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me!
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me!
F*** you, I won't do what you tell me!
Motherf***er!
Uggh!

[Raineyb]

58. Rage Against the Machine

And a frighteningly apt song at that.

Love that song BTW

Back to the OP, there is no bloody reason why a member of the KKK should be allowed to remain on the police force. The last thing we need is a cop who's a member of a terrorist organization on the force. Frankly, that ought to be one of the things screen for so they wouldn't be hired in the first place.

Regards

[L0oniX]

33. Silly repukes from FRUITLAND PARK ...oh yea that makes sense.

[galaxy21]

37. He's useless in court anyway

Say he arrested a minority and then testified about it in court, even if the person was guilty, it would get thrown out because the guy was in the KKK and that's all any defense attorny would need.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

39. Exactly

Remember Mark Fuhrman? That worked very nicely for OJ's defense team.

That's why I suggested above that he should be placed in a clerical job, with no or minimal public contact.

[Blue_Tires]

46. um...even having him as a janitor taints your whole department

and it is WAY too easy for even a bad attorney to associate tolerating a KKK employee with an implicit endorsement from the top-ranking officers...the guy is just a piece of shit who has no business acting as a LEO when he is an open member of an organization with 120+ year reputation of criminal activity and terror

[Tommy_Carcetti]

40. You think?

What an a-hole.

[Bluebear]

43. UPDATE: Here is photo that surfaced of him in his police uniform/KKK gown.

[EFerrari]

45. I don't want to "reach out" to that. Do you?

:puke:

[Bluebear]

54. Certainly not~!

[Tab]

52. I'm pretty sure THAT must violate some police code of ethics

I'm not a police officer, but I'm sure they have restrictions on when it is and is not appropriate to appear in uniform.

[8 track mind]

53. i think it's safe to

say that crossed the line. What a loser.

[MrScorpio]

55. No black or jew has a reasonable expectation of the equal application of the law by such a man

His association with the Klan clearly represents a conflict of interest between his oath to uphold the law as a duly accredited peace officer and as a member of an organization that preaches hate, lawlessness and discrimination.

He lied about it to his superiors.

This motherfucker should be fired.