Sheriff Fires Cop Who Threatened to Arrest Me for Taking Photos of CopsKing County deputy Patrick "K.C." Saulet has been fired for threatening to arrest me last summer, when I was photographing several officers on a downtown street corner, and then lying to investigators about the incident, says King County sheriff John Urquhart.
The termination is effective today.
"You have a constitutional right to photograph the police," Sheriff Urquhart asserted in a phone interview with me today. Threatening to arrest a citizen for legally taking photos of cops while on public property, he added, "is a constitutional violation, as far as I am concerned."
That's quite satisfying.
The photo incident was just the final straw of years worth of thuggish behavior. Saulet had already been suspended and demoted for harassing the public. Amen the sheriff finally cut him loose.