Two deputies could be fired for dishonesty, but that’s not the bigger story

The news went ablaze Thursday over two King County deputies facing possible termination after a video contradicted an official report. But that’s not what people should be talking about, according to Feliks Banel.

Banel, stepping in for KIRO Radio’s Tom Tangney on KIRO Radio’s Tom and Curley Show discussed the controversy Thursday morning. Two deputies allege a Metro bus driver cursed at them on a downtown Seattle street. But video &#8212 recorded on a pair of glasses equipped with a camera &#8212 of the incident proves otherwise. The confrontation, however, was over the deputies failing to remove sleeping people from the bus after the late night shift. And that bothers Banel.

“What’s the lead that we are burying here?” Banel asked. “The lead that’s buried is that there are homeless people sleeping on the bus. There’s a homelessness problem, people are sleeping on buses.”

“That’s not the lead!” co-host John Curley responded. “What’s wrong with that?”

Banel said he thinks it’s a big problem.

“What they are doing here is kicking them off the bus, getting the deputies come and chase them off,” he said. “Where do they go after that? Put on your video glasses and record what they do then.”

Related: Reducing the number of homeless people will take support, $1 billion

The Metro bus driver, Kelvin Kirkpatrick, had previously reported that King County Sheriff’s deputies were falling short of their duties and not inspecting the buses after the night’s shift. The drivers depend on the deputies to help clear out the buses, usually filled with people sleeping. But on Nov. 14, Kirkpatrick confronted a deputy, Sgt. Lou Caballero, about their absence.

The confrontation led to Caballero and another deputy, Amy Shoblom, filing a complaint with Metro claiming that Kirkpatrick was yelling obscenities at them on the street. The incident was looked into, and a discrepancy arose. While some law enforcement in Seattle have come under fire for not wearing body cameras, Metro drivers wear the devices, and Kirkpatrick’s was running when he spoke with Caballero. The camera is actual a pair of glasses with a lens and a microphone.

“It’s like when you work with somebody, you’re not really supervised by them, your supervisor doesn’t really supervise them but you have a problem with them,” Banel said. “This happened behind the bus on the street, so theoretically nobody knew other than Kelvin Kirkpatrick that this was being recorded.”

“An hour after this confrontation behind the bus, Sgt. Caballero filed a report saying that Kirkpatrick had used the F-word and said these things,” Banel said.

The video, posted by the Seattle Times, shows Kirkpatrick yelling across the street to the deputy, but never was a curse word used. The exchange was brief.

“Now this guy has the evidence that proves that’s not the case so now these two deputies can possibly be fired for putting false information into an official report,” Curley said.

Caballero and Shoblom now face termination from their positions. Both, however, maintain their story and question the authenticity of the video, according to the Seattle Times.

“King County Metro is a division of King County government, and the King County Sheriff’s Office works together,” Banel explained. “The Sheriff’s office provides security for the bus system. These deputies are on duty to help the bus drivers get people off the bus who are sleeping on these night-owl buses, these rapid ride buses that park downtown. Apparently, that’s a common occurrence and you have to get help from the deputy.”

Curley wonders if the deputies could even hear the driver over the street noise and rumbling sounds of multiple bus engines.

“The bus is idling right to the right of the driver,” Curley said. “There’s a bunch of buses idling.”

Ten buses according to the deputy on the video.

“Does he actually hear him?” Curley wonders.