Maybe Chief Shouldn’t Have Booted Knotek

In the old days, there was no problem in spotting a cop--his eyes narrowed at the corners, he had a 5 o’clock shadow, meaty hands and a paunch. But this kid on the stand, he looked like he just came from an aerobics workout in Margaritaville after a tough day placing commodities orders with the stock exchange.

And he’s supposed to be a rogue cop?

By a sheer quirk of scheduling, Keith Knotek, 26, is fighting to save his job with the Laguna Beach Police Department against the backdrop of the Christopher Commission’s report on the Los Angeles Police Department. That report has the LAPD reeling and much of the public wondering about the attitudes of today’s street cops.

Orange County doesn’t have a Rodney King incident, so the Kevin Dunbar affair will have to do. And it was Knotek’s encounter with Dunbar on a Laguna Beach street last summer--also videotaped by a citizen--that has put Knotek in the hot seat. Knotek was fired by Police Chief Neil J. Purcell Jr. but is appealing to the city’s Personnel Board.

Knotek is so confident of his actions that although he could have had his appeal conducted in private, he chose to open it to the public. The practical effect of that has been to offer an informative glimpse into why these are the times that try policemen’s souls.

So there Knotek sat Thursday, still insisting that he handled Dunbar correctly. The only thing he regrets, he said, was his foul language in calling Dunbar a name as he shouted an order at him to submit to the two other arresting officers.

Let’s be clear. The Dunbar matter in no way replicates the King episode. There are no baton-wielding cops pummeling a victim while others watch. The Laguna Beach videotape shows Knotek delivering three rapid-fire kicks to Dunbar, who is already down and virtually out of the camera’s sight. You can’t tell where the kicks land. As Knotek is kicking, two other officers are standing over Dunbar, who was rousted from a boisterous party that drew officers to the scene.

Basically, all sides agree that this is what happened: Dunbar, although prone, was fighting off the two arresting officers when Knotek arrived. They were having trouble cuffing him and, while face down, Dunbar was thrashing about, scissor-kicking with his legs and elbowing one of the officers in the legs.

When Knotek arrived, he testified, rocks and bottles from the rowdy party were landing around him. As his fellow cops continued to struggle with Dunbar, he wanted to speed up the arrest before the situation deteriorated further, he said.

Thinking that the situation was “already out of hand,” Knotek testified, he kicked Dunbar in the upper arm to force his submission. Knotek kicked once, but Dunbar continued to elbow the other officer. So, Knotek kicked a second time, but missed and almost kicked his fellow officer instead. He then kicked a third time and Dunbar ceased his resistance.

Knotek argued that he made his judgment after reviewing the scene for between 30 and 60 seconds. He said kicks are considered a legitimate response to a combative suspect, an argument that no one disputed at his hearing. In addition, both other officers testified that Knotek didn’t use excessive force in helping them restrain Dunbar.

Knotek’s argument is one that resounds throughout police forces in America: to wit, officers are forced to make quick judgments under difficult circumstances. As Knotek said on the stand Thursday, “It wasn’t a pretty sight out there.”

Purcell remains unconvinced. He testified Thursday that Knotek “lost control of himself and the situation” and that the kicks were an unreasonable use of force. Knotek could have sized up the situation longer, Purcell said, or done something other than kick a man who was face down on the sidewalk.

I won’t second-guess Chief Purcell. Any police chief bent on curbing excessive force among his officers is aces in my book. But the fact that the other officers on the scene testified that they didn’t consider Knotek’s actions excessive shows that there’s a gap between Purcell’s code of conduct and that of his street cops.

The other unsettling thing to me, as a neutral citizen watching the tape, is that Knotek appears to be much more “pumped up” than the other officers, who almost seem calm by comparison. Whether that suggests a short fuse in Knotek, I don’t know.

Maybe that’s what the chief sees and wants to purge from his department. I must confess I’d lose sleep before upholding Knotek’s firing. Departmental punishment, yes. Maybe even a suspension.

Fire him over this incident? That’s a toughie.

To my eyes, an incident that I once saw clearly is suddenly fuzzy--a fuzziness that has nothing to do with the quality of the videotape and a lot to do with the strange world of being a cop.

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.