Sowder v. Board of Police Commissioners

SHANGLER, Presiding Judge.

Appellant police officer Sowder was suspended without pay for sixty days by the Board of Police Commissioners for Kansas City, Missouri, for use of unnecessary force against citizen Rose Mary Neal and for his false oath that Wilbur Neal had refused the breathalyzer after request and warning of consequences, when — in fact — none was made or given.

The charges against Sowder resulted from conduct during a routine surveillance when Sowder, in the company of a fellow officer, undertook to question the occupants of an automobile, including Wilbur Neal. An argument…