An assistant police chief in Kent, Washington, was given a two-week suspension and ordered to take 'cultural sensitivity coaching' for displaying an indication that glorifies Nazi Germany at work.
Derek Kammerzell was disciplined final July for hanging the insignia of Schutzstaffel Opergruppenfuhrer - one of many Third Reich's highest ranks - on his workplace door in September 2020, in keeping with an inside report obtained by DailyMail.com.
An investigation by a Washington regulation agency additionally included allegations that the veteran cop as soon as confirmed off a photograph of himself carrying lederhosen and sporting an Adolf Hitler-style mustache.
On one other event, he allegedly boasted about elevating his hand in a 'hail Hitler signal' as a joke whereas posing with a public determine, the report mentioned.
The findings have been obtained by way of a freedom of knowledge request by native watchdog group No Secret Police, which shared the paperwork with DailyMail.com.
In his discover of disciplinary motion for hanging the Nazi propaganda, police Chief Rafael Padilla gave Kammerzell the choice of taking an unpaid depart or utilizing his paid trip time.
The division's prime cop additionally mentioned he 'tempered' his resolution with the actual fact Kammerzell - a 27-year veteran of the power - had no disciplinary historical past and 'above-satisfactory efficiency evaluations.'
Kammerzell informed investigators the insignia was associated to the The Man in The Excessive Tower, a TV collection that examines what the world may need been like if the Nazis had received the Second World Warfare.
He mentioned he adopted the nickname 'Obergruppenfuhrer' after colleagues started referring to him by the German title that interprets into 'senior group chief.'
Kammerzell claimed that on the time he hung the picture, he did not realize it was a Nazi rank and as a substitute thought it represented his place as a high-ranking cop with German lineage.
He denied ever praising Nazis or fascism.
Kammerzell informed the investigator that he did joke 'greater than as soon as about his grandpa dying throughout the Holocaust by getting drunk and falling off the guard tower.'
However he denied claims by a colleague that he as soon as bragged about giving a 'heil Hitler' salute. The declare probably stemmed from a joke he made whereas posing with Kent's mayor throughout Oktoberfest in 2019, he mentioned.
He remembers saying: 'hey, you need to be seen with a German man in lederhosen with our palms raised up?'
He mentioned claims he as soon as bragged about carrying a Hitler mustache are associated to varied kinds he pictured himself sporting throughout 'Movember,' when males develop their facial hair to boost cash for prostate most cancers.
However the lawyer investigating the case did not purchase all of his excuses, together with the declare he wasn't conscious of Opergruppenfuhrer's Nazi connection.
'It's not believable that after watching The Man within the Excessive Fortress and Googling "Obergruppenfuhrer" [that] Assistant Chief Kammerzell wouldn't perceive the Nazi affiliation,' the report mentioned.
'First, Assistant Chief Kammerzell described the outcomes of the Google search he carried out, together with the image that appeared, that it translated to "senior group leader," and that it included NATO equal and non-equivalent rankings. I searched "Obergruppenfuhrer" on Google, and supply a screenshot of the search outcomes under.'
A Google search of the phrase yields a plethora of outcomes associated to the Nazi rank.
The Metropolis of Kent mentioned in a press release that it employed two regulation corporations to analyze claims towards Kammerzell, and believes the two-week suspension was an acceptable consequence based mostly on authorized recommendation and labor legal guidelines.
'The impartial investigation confirmed Assistant Chief Kammerzell exercised poor judgment on this scenario regardless of an in any other case stellar 27-year profession with the Kent Police Division,' the assertion says.
'The Metropolis of Kent and Kent Police Division condemn racism in all its kinds and are dedicated to analyze and, when mandatory, impose acceptable self-discipline for each violation of our values and insurance policies.'
The town mentioned he has apologized and has 'fulfilled his tasks in full compliance with the division's values and insurance policies' since returning to work.
