Incident

Incident Description

On October 25, 2021, employees of an automotive repair shop called 911 to report that Buffalo police officer Kiam Gunn came to the shop while on-duty and threatened them.

According to the owner of the shop and an assistant manager, a family member of officer Gunn previously brought a car to the shop for an inspection, which the vehicle failed. The shop provided an estimate for repairs that were necessary to pass the inspection, complete the repairs, and certify that the vehicle passed inspection.

The owner and assistant manager told BPD that several days later, officer Gunn came to the shop in uniform and began cursing and yelling at the assistant manager that the cost of the repairs was excessive. Officer Gunn told the assistant manager that they had taken advantage of his family member and demanded that the assistant manager pay for the repairs.

According to the owner of the shop, officer Gunn smelled like marijuana and told the assistant manager that he would “fuck with him like never before.”

During BPD’s internal investigation, the assistant manager stated that officer Gunn yelled at another employee that “something was gonna happen,” indicated that he would return in 20 minutes, and left.

During officer Gunn’s interview with the Office of the Attorney General(OAG), he stated that the reason he told employees that he was going to return after his shift was so he could get the owner’s phone number to discuss his concerns. He also denied threatening any employees and stated that he was yelling due to the noise within the shop.

Concerned that officer Gunn would return, the employees of the auto shop closed the shop early and called 911.

Officer Gunn gave a statement as part of the internal investigation and stated that after he left the shop, he went to the station to end his shift and a lieutenant told him that employees had complained about his conduct. He stated that he was instructed to meet the lieutenant at the shop and did so.

During officer Gunn’s OAG interview, he stated that the

lieutenant spoke to him when they met there and told him not to return to the shop in the future.

BPD investigated and sustained the allegation of unprofessional conduct by officer Gunn, and he was required to attend a conference with a Deputy Commissioner to discuss his conduct.

The OAG agreed with BPD’s conclusion and found that officer Gunn committed misconduct during this incident by violating Chapter I, Section 2.13 and Chapter III, Sections 3.2(a) and

3.2(b) of BPD’s Rules and Regulations.