Broken Arrow Officer Fired From Police Force

A 17-year-veteran of the Broken Arrow Police Department is off the force. Officer Juan Jenkins spent the better part of 2006 on suspension, and the city fired him Thursday.<br/><br/>News on 6 reporter

Friday, January 5th 2007, 11:49 am

By: News On 6

A 17-year-veteran of the Broken Arrow Police Department is off the force. Officer Juan Jenkins spent the better part of 2006 on suspension, and the city fired him Thursday.

News on 6 reporter Joshua Brakhage shows us why.

Jenkins attorney says his client feels his firing is a slap in the face after nearly 2-decades of service. Coincidentally, it was a reported "slap in the face" that ended his 17-year-career.

Broken Arrow is known as one of America's safest cities and officer involved shootings are rare. So one officer using deadly force three times in a matter of months gets people's attention.

"That's the last thing they ever want to do is use deadly force. It's something they're always going to think about, it's something their kids ask them about, and it follows you for the rest of your life," said Jenkinsâ€™ attorney Scott Wood

Officer Juan Jenkins shot a suspect in October of 2004. Jenkins says he tried to stop him with pepper spray and his baton, but when the suspect came at him with a butcher knife, Jenkins fired. This past May, he was coming to break up a domestic dispute when a man came at him with a gun. Jenkins shot and killed him. And he fired at Smokey Pipes in July, when the shooting suspect rode his motorcycle around Jenkins' roadblock.

Each shooting came with a routine suspension, and Jenkins was returned to duty, even though his attorney says Jenkins didn't get the psychological help he needed to deal with these shootings. The day he came back to work, Jenkins was startled by a cuffed female suspect. His attorney says Jenkins spun around and hit her in the face.

"Completely an accident. However, other officers at the scene thought that he slapped the lady," Wood said.

Jenkins was fired on Thursday. Fellow officers on the FOP board say it was too extreme a punishment. They're joining attorney Scott Wood to fight for Jenkins' job.

"We'll do everything we can to get his job back," said Wood.

An arbitrator picked by the city of Broken Arrow and Officer Jenkins may have the final say later this year.

Even under these circumstances, Jenkins wants to return as a Broken Arrow police officer.