69 South
Podcast 69 South is about mystery, true crime, attempting to find the truth in a world full of chaos. We dig deep in to current and past true crime incidents. Reporting what we find to our listeners. We want to become your reliable source for all things relevant, while we live in a society that is truly lost.
69 South
The Shadow of a Rogue Raid : JUSTICE for Doug Harless
What happens when a police raid goes tragically wrong? We explore the complex case of Doug Harless in London, Kentucky, who lost his life due to a mistaken address during a police operation. We unravel the role of Hobart Buttrey, whose information led to the botched execution of a search warrant. With insights into Kentucky's cultural and legal landscapes, we examine the absence of police body cameras and the shifting societal dynamics that impact personal safety and trust in law enforcement.
Is anyone accountable when a "no-knock" warrant results in unnecessary loss of life? The controversy intensifies as we scrutinize a mysterious search warrant and an unsanctioned task force responsible for the tragic incident. Could there be more to the story than meets the eye, with manipulation and misinformation at play? We address the broader implications of unauthorized law enforcement actions and the community's growing demand for transparency and accountability.
Mayor Randall Weddle finds himself at the center of a storm, facing allegations of social media intimidation and community unrest. We discuss the city's battle against a so-called rogue mayor and police force, highlighting the city council's efforts to seek legal protection. With the tragic case of Breonna Taylor as a backdrop, we underscore the urgent need for reform in police practices. Join us as we confront these critical issues and emphasize the community's resolve to hold their leaders accountable.
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Disclaimer: All defendants are INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY in a court of law. All facts are alleged until a conviction!
69 South 69 South.
Speaker 2:69 South 69 South 69 South. Welcome everyone to Podcast 69 South, where we discuss and discuss true crime, cold cases, current events and hot topics, along with our state of society today. This is your trigger warning. Our podcast content is produced for adult listeners, 18 years of age and older. We discuss situations that may be offensive and triggering to some listeners. Sit back, relax and enjoy. Welcome everybody. Podcast 69 South.
Speaker 1:You hear them, dogs, when they bark behind that barbed wire fence. Don't come here after dark trying to ride podcast. Everybody, and with me is my beautiful co-host Julie.
Speaker 2:Welcome to our podcast. Everybody, and with me is my beautiful co-host Julie how you doing today, beautiful.
Speaker 3:I'm good. How are you baby?
Speaker 2:I'm doing really good, man. We've had a lot of people come at us with reports and stories on this. London, kentucky, is in a big shit. Mess people, man, and we want to keep this shit going because there's some wrong shit going down here, man.
Speaker 3:So WKYT News has reported that London, Kentucky authorities have obtained a search warrant in a case connected to a stolen weed eater. The man accused of stealing the weed eater, Hobart Buttrey. Buttrey spoke to the news from jail, claiming that the tragic situation surrounding the death of Douglas Harless could have been avoided. He stated that the incident escalated because the stolen item belonged to the executive judge, David Westerfield of Laurel County.
Speaker 2:So basically, this dude was arrested for some stolen shit and he gave these police some information. Like within a couple hours they had a search warrant on some bullshit, right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it was this executive judge, um david westerfield, and I thought you know he was like an actual court judge, but I didn't realize that down in kentucky an executive judge is more like the mayor of the county. I mean, when you hear the word judge, you think immediately that it's a judicial judge of the courts, but in this instance, no, they do not have any judicial power whatsoever. The title county judge executive is a blending of the past and the present, going back to a time when a person elected to this position also presided over judicial proceedings.
Speaker 2:See, that's a little bit weird man, because my granddaddy was a judge over five counties in Kentucky. We ain't just outsiders in here, man poking our nose into some shit. My granddaddy was a judge over Owen, gallatin, clark, carroll, henry County and he's got a gavel. I still got the gavel man in my gun safe. It has all the counties burnt into the gavel right in the wood. So you know our roots and our blood runs deep into Kentucky. So we're in this just as much as y'all are.
Speaker 3:Yeah, kentucky. So we're in this just as much as y'all are. Yeah, and in 1898, the Kentucky Constitution gave the name fiscal court to the body in each county that would act as the county government. Now the judge executive is responsible for running the executive branch of the county, including overseeing day-to-day operations. As a CEO of the county, he is responsible for the county's departments and personnels. He serves as a voting member of the fiscal county, the county's legislative body. Now, in other states this position is known as a county mayor, county executive, but here, where we are, it's commonly known as a county commissioner.
Speaker 2:So this is not a judge, as in civil or criminal court judge at all. On December 23rd, Doug Harless was shot and killed inside his home when the London Kentucky police attempted to serve a search warrant. At approximately 11.53 pm, However, the police arrived at the wrong address, 511 Van Zant Road, while the warrant was actually for 489 Van Zant Road. Adding to the complexity, Buttrey has been arrested just hours before Harless's death and been interrogated about the stolen equipment. Allegedly, Buttery informed the investigators that they could also find a large amount of drugs at the residence at 489 Van Zant Road, which had been vacant for several months.
Speaker 3:Now, listeners, let's think about this. Let's think about this you are in your home and it's around midnight and you receive an unexpected knock or gunshot at your door. Think about that. What are you going to do? Ask yourself that Most people I know are going to grab a weapon for their own protection, if they have one, because, one, this is all unexpected, and two, to protect yourself because you're not sure if it's a threat to your safety or not. So the city cops say they not. Did they identify themselves before allegedly shooting the lock off the door to make entry where Doug's body was found at the door after he answered it? No, I'm assuming it wasn't, because we don't know if he even got the chance to answer the door due to the police not wearing body cams.
Speaker 2:I mean, y'all got to think about this. Everybody put yourself in this position, man. From the time that they identified themselves as police officers, it was just a little bit more than a minute. Now we live in the country too. We're in southern Indiana. We're not in your area, but our area is just like your area. Somebody starts beating on my fucking door in the middle of the night. Shit ain't going to be right. I mean, it's either going to be one of your best friends or your neighbors, maybe needing pulled out of the snow, pulled out of the mud, something like that. Usually, they're going to text you or call you beforehand, man, or they're going to holler hey, doug, hey, it's Chop man. I need your help, bro, you know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean this guy was not a criminal. He would have never expected the police. I mean, if he thought anything with people beating on the door, like that.
Speaker 2:I mean, look, man, times have changed so much in this world. People, it's so bad. I mean, if you hear somebody beating at your door and it's the cops man, you should feel safe, you should feel like, oh hell, it's the local police man, they try to help me out or they're trying to get some information for me to help my neighbors out, but this ain't the case in this neck of the woods. Man, shit is really rogue in this shit. This incident unfolded when the police arrived to investigate an alleged theft of a weed eater, reportedly stolen by 49 year old hobert buttery, who lived just down the road. At one point in time, but not currently. The police say they knocked on harless's door and shortly thereafter shots were fired. But a source close to the investigation says that the knock at the door should be questioned because after this so-called knock, is alleged that the London Police Department fired the first shots and shot the lock of Doug Harless's home, not even giving him time to answer the door properly.
Speaker 3:Community members are expressing their anger and confusion, questioning why city police were patrolling outside their jurisdiction, especially since the mayor, randall Weddle, of London Kentucky has refused to provide any information of London Kentucky has refused to provide any information and he's citing that the Kentucky State Police has taken over the investigation. The lack of transparency has only fueled speculation and concern among residents, especially when the Kentucky State Police and the London City Police are breaking bread down at the local Wings and Rings or Old Town Grill.
Speaker 2:So they're all hooking up eating lunch together and shit, man, and I get that. You know what I'm saying. People in the community, man, the blue blood, you know what I mean. They hooked up together, they're like-.
Speaker 3:They're friends, they're buddies.
Speaker 2:They're brothers, man. They're brothers in this shit. It's just like we're kind of bikers, they're kind of cops, you know what I mean. Usually two go hand in hand, but you all look out for each other. So I get that this is going to be a fucking weird investigation. It's kind of like they're investigating their brothers in this shit.
Speaker 3:Right. Well, the London Police Department's previous police chief had eliminated their body cameras, claiming they couldn't afford them in the fall of 2023. Claiming they couldn't afford them in the fall of 2023. This decision has raised eyebrows, especially given the importance of such technology in protecting both officers and the community.
Speaker 2:I got to say, man, I did look at Randall Weddle's. He's got a mugshot that somebody was blessed to put up on Facebook and to me he looks like a cross between Seth Rogen and Baby Huey. He looks like one of the little fat kids in the neighborhood that used to fuck around behind your back and steal shit. You know what I mean. He doesn't look like somebody that should be the mayor of a community man. No disrespect, bro, but that's what you look like in your mugshot and I can't believe that. You're a mayor of a fucking city with charges the felony charges that you got man with this mugshot and all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 3:Oh, and we will be posting that beautiful mugshot on our podcast. 69 South Facebook page 100%.
Speaker 2:It's a pretty shot of you, bro. I'd be proud of it too.
Speaker 3:Now to make matters even crazier. During this recent city council meeting, officials learned for the first time that their police force was operating without body cameras and had been executing warrants outside of city limits. The city council is now demanding written statements from the police chief and the assistant chief regarding that night's events.
Speaker 2:What complicates matters further is leaked phone call between Laurel County Judge Executive David Westerfield and a Laurel City Police Officer, hale. In the call the officer admits that he initially took charge of the investigating of the theft of the weed eater and lawn equipment for the judge Executive David Westerfield and after Harless was shot the police contacted the judge within an hour to update him. That raises significant ethical concerns about the relationship between the police and the judge, which implicates you know the good old boy system. You know what I mean. That happens in all these small towns around here. Man. The good old boy system If you ain't in, you ain't in, you could get fucked at any time. If you ain't in, you ain't in, you could get fucked at any time, for real.
Speaker 3:If you ain't in, you got to go swim, it's not who you know, it's who you blow.
Speaker 2:That's a fact when it comes to this shit man and this poor Doug.
Speaker 3:I feel so bad for him.
Speaker 2:I do too, man, but this case goes so much deeper than this little bullshit, fake ass warrant. It goes all the way to the top of the governor of Kentucky.
Speaker 3:In the call, the judge expressed uh frustration over a homeless individual staying at a vacant property owned by him and suggested he would commit unethical actions if the man wasn't arrested. Now this paints a troubling picture of a potential conflict of interest where personal relationships may have influenced police police actions. So I want to play just a piece of this phone call for you guys, so you can hear it for your own ears with Officer Hale.
Speaker 1:All right, thank you. Yes, sir, this is Officer Hale. How can I help you? Hey, bert, david Washingtonfield, how you doing? Hey, david, what you doing? Old buddy? All right, buddy.
Speaker 1:Then I started looking at my place to see what was going. Okay, they claimed me that I have no way of itemizing anything, so I ain't gonna worry about my stuff. What I'd like to do, if possible, is somebody could question him and see what he done with my nephew's lawnmower equipment. I don't know if that's a possibility. Well, I know they arrested him last night. Yeah, I do too. From my understanding, David, that search warrant came off of his arrest Because he had said that he had took a weed eater down there to a dope dealer's house there off of Van Van. Okay, and the boy was shot and killed, right. Yeah, I understand. Nobody called me, want to talk this morning and told me all about it. So I know all about that one. You know I'm not gonna worry about my stuff unless he told you somebody that's laying in the pile and I could identify it. I would like to see carl's my get his stuff back if at all possible. I know they're working through it right now with some of the interviews that's all they can do.
Speaker 1:Ben, I do know and I will tell you this. I don't know who called you last night, but me and Jamie. The case got turned over to Elva Riley and he said he had worked a couple of cases for you before. Okay, if you're familiar with Elbert, do you know Elbert? Yeah, yeah, I know Elbert. Well, yeah, Elbert, you guys just do your job and I won't call you in, you know, and the chips fall where they fall. I mean, you know it's hard to run this stuff down. That's going to change his head. I think probably got to take a couple more pawn shops and stuff like that.
Speaker 1:I'd say he's tried to sell a lot of stuff. I hate to clean you out, david, especially with everything going on and especially right around Christmas time. Well, and also, I found out this morning that there's a homeless person staying back there in my back building, jared. Well, I'll tell you this. If you want me to, I can get up with both of our shift sergeants there and have them. So we end up finding them trespassing verbally on the property and you want them hooked? I do. And the thing is, derek, he may have been carrying my stuff out of that building. The butcher boy that's been arrested may not have gotten all my stuff. It may be the homeless guy that's carrying it off, but he's saying that I'd like to have him arrested because his chances he's a smoker he'll burn my building. So you know, if he's out, if they get a chance.
Speaker 1:I know it's Christmas and all that, so maybe after Christmas I can maybe go by there. It's not all guys that have it every night and 50-30. And I really don't want to do that because I might do something unethical. I know one thing I'll take care of you. Like I said, you've always been real good to us and Miss Karen's always been real good to me. So I don't care one bit to do as much as I can to try to help you out. That's why I told Jamie yesterday.
Speaker 1:I said I'm going to work my guts out on this case today to try to help David and them the best that I can. He said well, you know, do you know David and Karen real well? I said, buddy, I said my mom adores David and Karen Westfield. You know, maybe after Thursday or Friday y'all can check it, and I know you got other stuff to do right now. So if we get something out of this guy. It would be good you know that he's taken. If not, then we'll just go home. We'll just do what we can. Absolutely that's the best thing we can do, right? That's for sure.
Speaker 2:We'll be good either way there are so many things in this phone call that just eats me alive. The main thing that fucks me up is they're shitty about this fucking weed eater and the situation. Nothing is ever said about this poor man that lost his life. Mr Mr Harless had no criminal record. He was asleep in his bed After hours, man.
Speaker 3:Being a regular tax paying citizen minding his own damn business.
Speaker 2:Asleep Now. Kentucky law dictates that search warrants should be served before 10 PM, but officers arrived at 11.53 pm. If a search warrant exists, it has yet to be produced, leading many to believe that proper procedures were not followed. The community is calling for accountability, with many asserting that if the police had not been acting on behalf of the judge in questionable circumstances, this tragedy may have been avoided.
Speaker 3:But was this search warrant really over a weed eater? Were they really acting on behalf of the judge executive? Think about it. It makes no sense at all. Yeah, let's go out in the dark at midnight and search for a $300 weed eater.
Speaker 2:A $300 weed eater is an expensive-ass, fucking weed eater. And I doubt it was a $300 weed eater, but go ahead, baby.
Speaker 3:Out of city limits, out of your jurisdiction, you're going to boot up 9 to 10 officers to go serve a search warrant for a $300 weed eater, to go serve a search warrant for a $300 weed eater. Why waste all that manpower and tax dollars paying these officers to go look for a $300 weed eater? It doesn't happen for those types of reasons. So what is the real purpose?
Speaker 2:I have a theory, Say theory, about Buttery giving a false, fake info to the investigators because he just got arrested and he wanted to get himself out of the boiling water he was in. So in my opinion, I think old Buttery was buttering up them boys and blew the finesse his way out of his own trouble. If Buttery was in jail, who was the search warrant for? Was there a named person or was it just an address on his phantom search warrant that the county court hasn't even seen? So basically, in my eyes, this buttery dude man probably, I mean no offense bro, but he looks like a fucking meth head.
Speaker 2:He stowed a fucking weed eater, which you'd have to be a piece of shit to even steal a fucking weed eater in the first fucking place and to steal it from a judge's property is even dumber. But so he gets in jail and these investigators, man, are like where's the weed eater? Where's the weed eater? And I saw a fucking report where this buttery dude got on there and said he gave him the wrong address, just a fucked up trailer address, where he told him there was dope and stolen shit and it was complete bullshit. So these fucking cops, within two hours, supposedly come up with this search warrant which hasn't been fucking produced. No judge has signed this search warrant. This search warrant is fucking irrelevant. It's invisible.
Speaker 3:It's a phantom one.
Speaker 2:It's a phantom search warrant.
Speaker 3:So new revelations have emerged that further complicate this narrative, and it turns out that the task force involved in this incident was not approved by the city council. In fact, during a recent council meeting, it was disclosed that this task force had been inactive for months. When a concerned citizen inquired about who was on this rogue task force, I believe the mayor said that there was one member on it, and then, when he realized that this task force had been disbanded, he backpedaled real quick and it became apparent that the operations were completely illegal.
Speaker 2:One resident shared a harrying account stating that Harless was peacefully asleep in bed when he was abruptly awakened by the rogue task force supposedly knocked on his door. However, according to our sources, doug never even had a chance to answer the door. The door was allegedly breached by Officer Wes Wolfe, so if the door was breached, it means it was not opened by Doug. This individual pointed out in that area. Answering the door at such a late hour could lead to dire consequences, as many residents might greet unexpected visitors, like the meth-head neighbors in that area, with a firearm for protection. This raises alarming questions about the safety of residents in the community, where police actions seem reckless and out of control.
Speaker 3:There are also concerns that non-police officers may have been assisting the city police during the raid. Residents are left wondering if these individuals' names will ever be made public and what role they played in this tragic event, but honestly, I wouldn't put too much thought into that, because we believe that all the people involved were sworn officers of the Laurel City Police.
Speaker 2:Kentucky State Statute 455.180 states Arrest or search warrants authorizing entry without notice unless existing circumstances. Is that an immediate threat to safety?
Speaker 2:the LEO seeking the warrant has obtained the leo is the law enforcement officer my bad sorry, I abbreviated it and didn't tell you I appreciate that baby approval of his or her supervising office has the approval of the highest ranking officer in his or her law enforcement agency. So basically, what's that saying is they can't just go out and serve these fucking rogue search warrants on over a fucking weed eater unless somebody's life is in danger, unless they got somebody tied up in the back room beating the fuck out of them or there's something really really, really serious going on. They can't serve these fucking search warrants in the middle of the goddamn night.
Speaker 3:No, and I think it all stemmed from that, breonna Taylor, who got killed in Louisville when they did that no-knock warrant on her. But, critically, the mayor of London, kentucky, randall Weddle, has refused to explain why the raid was executed at night rather than during the day, especially over a relatively minor issue. Now, kentucky law dictates that nonviolent warrants should typically be served between 6 and 10, just like you were talking about, and this further questions the legality of the police's actions that night.
Speaker 2:Many citizens now live in fear of the mayor and the police, concerned about potential retaliation for speaking out. At a recent meeting, one resident boldly asked the city council if they had the courage to remove the mayor from office, suggesting that he is not representing the community effectively. And I agree 100%. I'd like to read a post that was removed from Facebook that the mayor had said and to me, honestly, it kind of sounds, kind of threatening.
Speaker 3:Right. The mayor's behavior has also come under scrutiny, with, you know, his using of social media to intimidate the residents. Not only doing that, but attacking local businesses and certain individuals who dare to voice dissent against him. There are claims that his actions have harmed several businesses in London, raising concerns about his leadership, and I'm going to read you this Facebook post and I want to know what you guys think. So this is his Facebook post. After the meeting, he said I want to address the recent council meeting. Was it a difficult meeting? Yes, it was. It was tough for the innocent people involved and it was disheartening to see a certain group using this situation for political gain. But that's politics today, right, while he's out there playing politics. They mentioned my name more than the person they claimed they came there to support and advocate for. Let me be clear you will not drive me away and I'm here to stay. To those who operate in the shadows, thinking people don't see. You know that we do and it's noted that shit.
Speaker 2:That shit sounds threatening as fuck to me. I want our listeners to know that our episode was delayed a little bit because we have received some fucking threats. Mayor Weddle. Weddle has big connections, threatening connections, big connections in Indianapolis. Well, guess what? We from this neighborhood too, and we don't give a fuck about the threats that y'all have sent to us. We're going to read and we're going to report everything that we hear and know and find out that it's fact. Absolutely Down there in.
Speaker 3:London, Kentucky, you are not going to shut us up for shit.
Speaker 2:We're going to be the voice for the people in London, Kentucky, man, because we don't give a fuck about the threats that you're all sending to us.
Speaker 3:In response to the growing crisis, the city council has voted to form a committee to find a city attorney who can protect them from what they describe as a rogue mayor and police department. Intriguingly enough, only one council member voted against this initiative. This raises questions about her motivations. Could Councilwoman Little be aligned with the mayor's interest? You would think so.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you would think I mean, why the fuck would she be the only person that voted no on that shit? That's fucking weird man. By now I'm sure that we have all seen the neighbor's security camera footage of the entry into the home of Doug and the unfortunate outcome of the situation. Now in this video it shows the police gathering around the home. You see an officer lead the way that seems to be in charge, but no one knows who this officer is. But we do. This officer leading the way is no other than your most distinguished officer and captain of what locals call the Goon Squad, officer Landry Collette.
Speaker 3:What's up, Landry?
Speaker 2:You hear two to three bangs on the door. You also hear the police identify themselves and say open the door with your hands up. Now, how in the fuck can you open the door with your hands up for one? Anyway, you hear a dog barking. Then you see the porch light come on and then you see the house being breached by Officer Wes Wolfe. Allegedly Officer Josh Morgan is the shooter who shot doug harless.
Speaker 3:His local reputation in the law enforcement community is that he is a hot shot trigger happy officer that may not have completed his in-service hours prior to this and shouldn't have been on the scene of any situation like this.
Speaker 2:With all those service accommodations. It makes you wonder whose ass is he kissing, because our sources tell us that Laundrie Collette.
Speaker 3:Landry.
Speaker 2:Landry well. Laundry Landry it's like dirty laundry is why I keep saying laundry. I guess Informants. He bullies and terrorizes the community and other police officers and wants to be the drug cowboy of London, kentucky.
Speaker 3:And he's a cop who weasels his way out of any situation and misuses his informants too.
Speaker 2:We've had a lot of people comment and contact us saying that they wonder why, how, why?
Speaker 3:and how in the fuck he gets out of this shit that he gets himself into. Now. Landry wants all the drug bus glory in the world and admiration, which is why he led the bust into Doug Harless's home that night. He was trying to feather his cap and curry favor with the county judge executive.
Speaker 2:We know that one officer on scene is related to state representative Timmy Truitt. It has been said that the mayor, randall Weddle and I say Weddle because that's how most people talk about him is an illegitimate mayor trying to create his own territory or kingdom. He is an alleged bully and threatens anyone who disagrees with him.
Speaker 3:I know some of y'all are not going to like hearing what I'm about to say, because there are some good officers and they are in fear of losing their jobs and or quote unquote surviving or suffering from unknown accidents that would be unsurvivable.
Speaker 2:Some of these cops are good cops, man. They were just doing what they were told. I mean, you know, you got this head rogue cop dirty laundry, as I like to call him. I mean he's, he's routing everybody up. Man, we got this dude in jail. He said there's dope, there's stolen shit over here at 489.
Speaker 3:Boot up boys, let's go get them.
Speaker 2:Boot up boys. Let's go fucking get these dudes, man. And these police are trying to do their jobs, man, but it was some fucked up shit. If you look at the shit, man, if you look at the TV footage, if you look at everything that's been put on the news, man 511 is like right on the side of the porch where the steps they walked up on. I don't give a fuck about how Apple Maps takes you here, or fucking you know. This app, this GPS app, takes you here. These fucking police should know exactly where they're going, who lives at the fucking house and nobody has even lived at this 489 house for months.
Speaker 3:Now we also had a report that these officers they weren't all in uniform, if any of them, and they were driving unmarked police cars as well. Doug probably thought it was a home invasion which would justify the Castle Doctrine. Do you know what that is?
Speaker 2:I'm not sure. Why don't you explain it to me, girl the?
Speaker 3:Castle Doctrine. Well, I didn't know what it was either, so I had to look it up because I had never heard of it. But in kentucky, the castle doctrine refers to the legal principle that allows individuals to use reasonable force, including deadly force, to defend themselves against an intruder in their home without a duty to retreat, essentially meaning they can stand their ground if they reasonably believe that they are in imminent danger of serious harm within their dwelling I mean somebody's beat on your fucking door.
Speaker 2:And you're not a criminal, you've never committed a crime and somebody's beat on your fucking door. That's reasonable cause in my eyes to come to the door with your pistol to find out who in the fuck is beating at your door. And you know what? We've got reports that says that Mr Heartless mother gave him a gun as a present, but he gave it back. So nobody even knows where this gun came from. We don't even know if this dude was even armed.
Speaker 3:I think Fred sandra said that, didn't they? Yeah, I love them.
Speaker 2:They're so cute, shout out f and s investigators. We love y'all. I hope you hear this man and we're giving on youtube, if you guys um y'all cool as fuck. Country folk like us and we love it.
Speaker 3:Now you know what? Another interesting coincidence is that there's this KSR radio broadcast, which is aired in London, kentucky, for years Now. After this happened, they mentioned what had happened in this town and just like that they were dropped from the London area after being listened to daily for years. So shout out to KSR. We think you may have hit a nerve.
Speaker 2:At the board meeting, a significant topic of discussion arose concerning the security cameras installed along the main street of the town. Installed along the main street of the town, these cameras were purchased in October of 2024, but what followed was a perplexing exchange about their approval process. Board members expressed confusion over who authorized the purchase, since it had not been officially voted on by the board. One member speculated that the cameras likely cost over $40,000, to which the mayor responded that the total was actually less than that amount.
Speaker 3:Now, if the police department had a surplus at that time, in 2024, approximately a year later after they stopped using the body cams in 2023, why would they they, I mean, as in the police department not reinstate the use of the body cams instead of putting up surveillance cameras along the buildings down Main Street?
Speaker 2:I mean they already had the body cams. What they're saying is is the problem and the cost problem was they couldn't afford the fucking cloud to store the footage of the body cams.
Speaker 3:And the software update.
Speaker 2:Right? Well, we've looked into that and literally the price of the cameras that were put on the square that have the facial recognition and the license plate readers is a hell of a lot cheaper than it would have been just to purchase the cloud to store the body cam footage. And that's a fact yeah.
Speaker 3:So when pressed further about who made the actual purchase, the mayor claimed that the cameras were acquired from the county's police department. Surplus, surplus. You know that raised eyebrows among them County council A surplus or city council members.
Speaker 2:Don't a surplus mean extra money, baby?
Speaker 3:Yes, a surplus is extra money.
Speaker 2:This statement raised eyebrows among council members as it highlighted potential issues of oversight and accountability into local government spending potential issues of oversight and accountability into local government spending. As the community grapples with the fallout of the Harlow shooting and the questionable actions of the local law enforcement, these discussions about security cameras only deepen the concerns about transparency and decision-making in London.
Speaker 3:Residents are left questioning the integrity of their leadership and the processes that govern their town. The atmosphere is charged with a sense of urgency for reform, as many citizens are demanding more clarity and accountability from their elected officials and accountability from their elected officials. Now the Supreme Court of the United States has discussed this many times. That this is going to get you all hot. I know it is and I am so sorry, but the police don't quote-unquote work for the people, the citizens. They work for the elected officials you voted into office.
Speaker 2:See, that pisses me the fuck off, because protect and serve the citizens means protect and fucking serve the citizens.
Speaker 3:Right Now. All of these questions are situated in the traditional belief that police are there to proactively prevent and de-escalate dangerous situations. The average citizen has been convinced of this imaginary, of this imagery of police as heroic and uniquely brave citizens, despite being debunked both by the actions of police forces and the courts themselves. But I don't want to take anything away from officers who are heroes.
Speaker 2:There are some good officers in London, kentucky man.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And you know it really fucking pisses me off and it really burns my ass that if you get your fucking door beat on at midnight or whatever time it was and you realize it's the police, you should be fucking happy. You should be like right on, it's my dudes here, it's the police. You should be fucking happy. You should be like right on, it's my dudes here, it's the police. What's up, bro? Can I help you with something? You know what I mean. I should feel safe. When the police knock on my door at fucking 1130 at midnight at night. I should feel like maybe they're protecting me from something, Maybe they need some information from me. I should breathe a sigh of fucking relief. I shouldn't be fucking scared to death for my life when the police are fucking knocking my lock off my door and you know what?
Speaker 2:Doug Carlos was shot with an AR-15. With an ar-15? Why in the fuck was this cop have an ar-15, which is an assault rifle pointed at the citizen man over a fucking weed eater? You know what I mean? That don't even make no sense to me, man no, not at all.
Speaker 3:And another thing I want to talk about real quick because I think I accidentally skipped over. But if y'all go back and look at the security cam footage, I stopped and I played it down slow.
Speaker 2:A hundred times.
Speaker 3:And I looked and I looked. Now these police. They breach from the front entry way and that's where he gets shot. But you see, just a couple seconds after that, up behind the house, you see an officer start shooting his gun and it knocks him on his ass. You can see the flash from the gun 100%.
Speaker 2:You can see the flash and he's probably carrying a .40 caliber or a 9mm. It's a standard issue, probably a Glock 19.
Speaker 3:That's going to knock him on his ass.
Speaker 2:It shouldn't knock him on his ass, but he's a little bitch. It did knock him on his ass. I mean, it fucking knocked the dude on his ass. Yeah, nobody ever said a word. No news reported this. Nobody ever said shit.
Speaker 3:Y'all got to go look at it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, look at it for yourself. You can see the shot being fired and it knocking this cop on his ass. Why did he shoot? Because he was scared to fucking death. Maybe he shit his pants because the ir15 was getting shot at this poor citizen.
Speaker 3:Something's fucked up but he was shooting from the back of the house there was. Who was he shooting at? What the fuck was he?
Speaker 2:shooting at? What the fuck was he shooting at? Did he have his finger on the trigger?
Speaker 3:And he got scared and jumped and accidentally shot it.
Speaker 2:Man.
Speaker 3:They need retrained or something.
Speaker 2:Something needs to be happening down in London, kentucky, and I'm telling you we've received threats. But let me tell y'all, we 69 South, we don't give a fuck about the threats that we have received. We're going to stay on this story and we're going to scream it and yell it until everybody listens. Kentucky State Police, please investigate this and don't break bread with these people that you're investigating man, these people that you're investigating man, and just sweep this under the rug, because this rug that y'all are sweeping shit under it's got a hump in it so bad that motherfuckers are going to start tripping over it. You feel me?
Speaker 3:I got a funny for you. So when the mayor is talking about these security cameras being placed on the buildings and stuff and his attempt to justify the camera installation, first thing he said was oh well, we're starting to get a lot of tourism and so he tried to use tourism and it would benefit some way. And then a councilwoman sharply countered and she was like I said get the cameras off the building and put them on the cops. This remark underscores the frustration among the council members, who feel that their resources should be directed towards ensuring police accountability rather than monitoring the public the public. Now, as the pressure mounted, the mayor shifted his reasoning, claiming the cameras were necessary for preventing mass shootings. However, a resident pointed out that nearly every business along that street has already had cameras facing outside, which raises a critical question Is the mayor more interested in monitoring the public than ensuring police accountability? The implication is stark, as many residents feel that the lack of body cameras for police officers suggests a desire to obscure police actions rather than protect the community.
Speaker 2:That's exactly what the fuck is going on. These cameras that they had installed were 40 fucking grand. These cameras have facial recognition. They have license plate readers, so now they're able to monitor where every citizen in London, kentucky, go, what they do, where they're fucking at, at any time. Is that more important than paying $20,000, $30,000?
Speaker 3:And we've looked into it, folks, we have researched it's only $30,000 to $35,000 at best to pay for a cloud for the body cams that they already have, the body cams that they already have. Now, in a particularly revealing moment, one of these residents stood up and shared that. You know, hey, he took a picture of this camera that was mounted outside of one of the buildings and right after he did that, he noticed that a police officer was following him so closely, closely enough to read his license plate. When he asked the mayors if the cameras recorded live footage, the mayor straight up said no, and then he backpedaled again stating oh, they only record during events for the town. The same dude said well, are they recording right at this moment? And the mayor had to concede that they were, so he lied again. Now this exchange left many residents questioning the mayor's credibility. One resident remarked On all the absurdity of it, noting that the mayor has told 10 different lies in just three sentences. This lack of honesty only adds to the community's growing frustration and distrust.
Speaker 2:This little baby Huey, looking fucking mayor man has got me fucked up. And I'll tell you the other cop, the dirty laundry cop man. He looks like Ernest. You know Ernest. In that fucked up movie the Ernest blows cops or whatever the fuck it is. I don't know what it is, but I feel like these threats are coming from some of Ernest's or the dirty laundry's buddies. Let me give you all a hint here at 69 South, we don't give a fuck about y'all's threats. We're going to speak up for all the people in London, kentucky and Doug Harless, and we ain't going to stop until we figure out what the fuck's going on. So, kentucky State Police, please do your job. Man, Stop breaking bread with these lawbreakers. Man, come on, get with it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, amen to that.
Speaker 2:We got a lot more to come on this case, man, and we thank you for all the support we've got from London, Kentucky. And we got a lot more to share, man, because there's a lot of good citizens out there, man that's sharing information. But these people are scared to death, man, and they shouldn't be scared of the police. These police should be their best friends in the world. These citizens pay y'all's salary, man.
Speaker 3:Their taxes do. Now I would also like to add that, as much as I know that you didn't want to hear it about some of the officers on the force that do not agree with what is going on, that are in fear for losing their jobs and even their lives this is why nobody down there wants to report on this. And also, let me tell you, what don't get you in the wash is going to get you in the rinse. So be prepared, and that is why we need the FBI to get involved in this investigation. There is nothing more than a good cop hates, than a rogue cop thinking he is street king or, in this case, appalachian king.
Speaker 2:Amen, we ain't even close to being done with this case. We've got to shut it down for now.
Speaker 3:One more thing Now, real, real quick. Now. These city council members have been getting death threats and all this stuff. Now, I know that everybody wants to hold these city council members responsible, because it's their job to know what's going on in their city, but a lot of them have been completely blindsided by all of this chaos. Not only are they receiving death threats and all sorts of things too. So, you know, please give them a little grace in this situation too.
Speaker 2:And the boys in blue that were really just doing their job in this case. Man, mad respect to y'all, but this ain't the end of it. We're going to keep reporting on this until something fucking gets figured out on this shit, but until then, we hope y'all have a good day. We have a good evening whatever, whatever man.
Speaker 3:Good night london, kentucky, we'll see you next time.
