Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse our Lodge President has done it again. After several weeks of campaigning and continually spouting off about his accomplishments to date, many of which have been challenged in every division he has gone to, he really blew it in the early morning hours of November 17, 2007.
Officer Charles Meek had made a traffic stop on a suspicious vehicle in Plymouth Alley and Officer Drew Meyer and Officer Rob King backed him up on the stop. As Rob was approaching the vehicle the driver gunned the car and struck him with her vehicle. Rob was knocked to the ground and he and Charles engaged the driver with their weapons after she had attempted to run Rob over. The woman was shot in the shoulder and took off and had to be further pursued in order to be taken into custody and transported to the hospital. Thank God our Officers are all ok. The criminal, Brenda Jo Woosley a.k.a. Jassamine Peach is in fair condition and charged with criminal attempt murder of a police office, and evading police.
As in any lethal force encounter Officers are immediately segregated and taken to PIU for what amounts to a criminal investigation into a shooting. This happens every time. Rob was taken upstairs into the offices of PIU and like he should have done, he asked for his attorney. Lodge Attorney Mark Miller was on hand and so was President Keeling. Rob explained to Keeling that he did not want Mark to represent him, but that he wanted Steve Schroering to represent him. (That makes sense, Mark Miller is a fantastic Labor Attorney and is well versed in departmental policy and contractual issues, but at a time like this you want the best Defense Attorney you can get.) After hearing Officer King's request, President Keeling advises him that Mark Miller was the only attorney that answered the phone and never makes any further attempt to contact the officer's requested attorney.
This is wrong. Did Keeling ever try to call Steve Schroering? If you are involved in a critical incident, before you give a statement, your attorney of choice is sitting there with you, not the attorney that lodge president decides upon. Did you try and get a hold of Steve at home Mr. Keeling? What number did you call? He always answers his phone. Why not now? Rob deserved to have Steve there and you failed to provide the attorney of choice for him.
This heinous act of his is totally against the principals of the Legal Defense Fund that we pay a major portion of our dues for in order to provide us with the best legal protection from the best attorneys 24 / 7, year round. There are dozens of Attorneys signed up to represent members of our Lodge and you do get to pick who you want to represent you. Keeling has violated the tenants of the plan and his oath of office by failing to take care of one of our members.
Keeling was glad handing people and telling them to make sure and come and vote on Tuesday while the officers were being interviewed. Unbelievable! His job was to take care of the Officers not politic for re-election. Silly as it sounds, this blunder happened just days before he is seeking to be re-elected as President of the Lodge.
This unconscionable act is one in a 22 month string of heavy handed behavior that has created a rift in the lodge that the members will not stand for anymore. He has proven over and over again that he is unfit to lead the largest lodge in the State of Kentucky and one of the top 20 lodges in the nation. His behavior and demeanor has been a disgrace and has proven beyond a doubt in recent days that our only logical choice is to vote him out of office on Tuesday, November20, 2007.