Jonathon Liedtke – ourWindsor.ca – March 4, 2013
A Windsor police officer has plead guilty to “discreditable conduct becoming of a sworn officer” for an incident in late 2011.
On December 31, 2011 Constable (1st Class) A. Naklie was on scene at a car accident on Grand Marris and Walker Rd. when a yellow 2005 Chevy Cobalt drove through the collision scene. The following day, the driver of the Cobalt was visited by Naklie at his personal residence and Naklie discussed an allegation of road rage and used abusive language to speak with the driver.
Naklie allegedly told the driver that if he continued to drive in such a manner, he might either kill another driver or be killed on the road. Naklie added that police must respond to situations of road rage in a manner which protects both the suspect and the police officers involved.
“The officer went to the complainants’ house to discuss an allegation of road rage and was discussing what some people might have done if they had been subjected to the complainants’ road rage,” stated Defense lawyer Andrew Mackay. “He was hypothesizing [and] mentioned [that] you never know who’s out there, they might come at you with a knife or a gun. If [someone] charges at a police officer, and he pulls his gun out, he may have to exercise his use of force options.”
Both the defense and the prosecution put forward a suggested penalty of a 24-hour dock of pay which was agreed upon and was found to be consistent with other penalties in similar situations.
Naklie volunteered the information that he had been in counseling services for a personal issue at the time of the incident. It was accepted that the continuation of counseling would constitute additional punishment, and that if the counselor recommended that Naklie remain in counseling, he would continue without question.
“The penalty being accepted, it’s in the range of appropriate penalties for this type of action and it’s consistent with other penalties out there,” said Mackay who went on to explain that the decision will have a positive impact on the Windsor Police Services.
“This is something that police officers go through on a daily basis … the chosen word sometimes gets them in a little bit of trouble,” said Mackay. “But certainly it’s going to be a positive result … the officer was trying to give this young fella a break. He chose some inappropriate language and he’s learned from that.”
Naklie refused to provide a comment and allowed for his legal counsel to solely speak for him.
The matter could have gone to trial which according to Mackay saved the “community, the WPS, [and] the taxpayers of Windsor a significant amount of money.”
Mackay added that Naklie – who has no previous discipline on his file – was simply trying to teach the driver the “facts of life” and that the incident was both “isolated” and “atypical of the officer”.
Police officer pleads guilty to discreditbale conduct (ourwindsor.ca)
Jonathon Liedtke is the Features & Opinion Editor for the University of Windsor Lance Campus/Community Newspaper and a reporter for ourWindsor.ca. As a founding member and current Co-Chair of the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee, he is committed to representing, connecting, engaging with and advocating for local youth. He is also a member of Windsor’s “Punk with Horns” band The Nefidovs, and as such, is committed to enhancing and sustaining the arts community.
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