GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ)- Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith is looking for answers when it comes to his officers response to a man who was recording video in and around the Green Bay Police Department Monday.
The nearly 13 minute video begins with two officers confronting a man who was videotaping the lobby of the police department, and ends with a forceful action and detainment by another member of the police department.
Since the video has gone viral, Chief Andrew Smith has launched an internal investigation about the events caught on video. Smith said he has gotten quite a bit of feedback from the video.
“It hasn’t been very pleasant because most people are pretty upset when they call, but most of the calls that I’ve received have been from outside of Wisconsin,” said Smith.
Smith was not afraid to admit that the video requires a second look.
“Some things that I saw on that video initially don’t look right,” said Smith.
Chief Smith gave a brief list of things that concern him.
“I think it’s ok for a person to videotape in the lobby, certainly ok for our officers to go talk to them, but people are allowed to do that as long as they’re not interfering,” said Smith. “I’d like to ask some questions about that.”
The man, who goes by the name of Scott Kosbab, was encounterd by Captain Brad Florence and Lt. Jeff Engelbrecht while inside the lobby.
In the video, both officers tell the man that he can’t video the lobby, and Captain Florence asks the man to leave, which he refuses to do.
Lt. Engelbrecht eventually tells him that it is okay for him to take pictures, as long as he does not interfere with operation and film those who wish not to be filmed, which Kosbab agrees to.
Chief Smith says he also is looking into the outside portion of video that shows the detainment by Lt. Jeff Brester.
“I have to have some answers to why that person was detained, what the officers’ perception was at the time, what this individual was doing that we don’t see on camera,” said Smith.
Smith added that he will use the YouTube video, security footage and interviews to determine if the correct course of action was taken. He also said that the department is going through additional training on how to deal with situations like they encountered.
“But I think maybe we all need a little bit of a reminder about what is legal and what’s not in respect to videotaping into a building and videotaping inside the lobby,” said Smith.
Smith says that training is already underway.
