Metro Police officer fired over Taser incident

Stephen Curran

Friday, Sept. 17, 2004 | 9:37 a.m.

A Metro Police officer at the center of an investigation into the improper use of a Taser was fired last week after an investigation determined he lied, the department said.

Officer Jeremy Krough was found to have participated in conduct unbecoming an officer, lying about excessive force incidents and falsifying reports, Metro Undersheriff Doug Gillespie said. The allegations were reviewed by officers in Krough's chain of command, who then submitted them to a pre-termination board consisting of officers outside the chain, Gillespie said.

Sheriff Bill Young made the final decision to terminate Krough.

Krough and another officer, James Vargas, were placed on administrative leave after the investigation into whether the officers used their department-issued Taser guns improperly on at least one citizen. Police would not disclose when, where or on whom the Taser guns were used.

Vargas later resigned his post.

In violation of department policy, the officers failed to report the incident to their commanding officers that the Taser was used, Mike Ault, deputy chief of Metro's Professional Standards Division, said.

When asked during the investigation, Krough denied using the weapon, which uses a microchip to record the time and duration of each use, Ault said. The microchip showed that the Taser had been used.

Young had previously told the Sun the department was rethinking its Taser-use policy in light of the Taser-related death of another man in February.

No immediate changes had yet been made in light of Krough's termination, Gillespie said.

"Our use of force policies, whether it's Tasers or any weapons, are constantly being reviewed," Gillespie said. "It would be inappropriate to confuse this case with some of the other things in regards to Tasers."

A 47-year-old man died last month after another Metro officer used a Taser during a struggle at the man's condominium.

According to police, the man appeared to be under the influence of PCP. The officers' actions in that case appeared to fall under the department's use-of-force policy, police said.

The department began using Tasers, which are supposed to be nonlethal, in April 2003 as an alternative for lethal force.