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Fired TPD officer says she has proof FBI, TPD officers broke laws, lied

A fired Tulsa police officer says she has proof that FBI agents and members of the TPD Special Investigations Unit told her to lie on the stand and commit other crimes, that the city fired her without cause, and that both federal and local law enforcement have the proof in their hands, but continue to refuse her reinstatement.

Kendra Miller tells KRMG she has audio recordings of FBI agents and SID officers breaking the law and/or telling her to break the law. [Hear our entire interview with Miller HERE]

She claims termination proceedings against her were the result of her refusal to comply, and because she can prove that officers were acting outside the law.

It all began with a 2005 investigation into police officers who were supposedly moonlighting at bars in east Tulsa, and tipping off the owners to any possible raids or drug interdictions planned by TPD.

Miller says initially she was a target of that investigation, but was cleared of any wrongdoing. That's when they asked her to become part of the investigation.

"They asked me to go into the bars, to accept bribes from the bar owner, and they also asked me to go to court and lie on the stand if there were any cases against the bar," Miller told KRMG during our exclusive interview.

"They were promising me immunity, they were asking me to do things that were illegal, they're on tape doing it. The chief of police is well aware of this, the FBI is well aware of this, and they refuse to do anything about it."

Two years later, Miller was told she was the target of an investigation, and facing allegations that she had violated several departmental policies.

"Duty to be truthful, conduct unbecoming an officer, releasing confidential information, violating the vehicle use agreement" were some of the charges leveled against her by the department, and she was terminated.

But an arbitrator ruled in her favor on every fireable offense, and found that she should be reinstated.

That didn't happen. Instead, the city went to court to overturn the arbitration.

That's something that never should have happened, according to Fraternal Order of Police Local 93 President Clay Ballenger.

By going to binding arbitration, as called for in the contract between the FOP and the city, "both parties waive any rights to litigate or otherwise contest the last answer rendered in the grievance process, which was the arbitrator's ruling in this case," he told KRMG.

"What really concerns us right now is we have this agreement between the city and the Fraternal Order of Police that we both signed, and a neutral arbitrator heard all the evidence and made a fair and impartial decision, and now in my opinion, the city has gone outside of our contract and appealed that, and we feel like both of us have waived that right if we go through the rights steps to get that arbitrator's decision, and we did that."

Ballenger says the ruling could have an impact on every law enforcement officer in the state who's represented by a union collective bargaining agreement.

As for Miller, she tells KRMG she's "one hundred percent" certain she will eventually win, and get her job back.

That's a job she loves, she says, protecting and serving the citizens of Tulsa -- and despite threats to herself and her family, she has no plans on giving up the fight.

KRMG made numerous calls to all of the agencies involved.

No calls were immediately returned.

Tune in to FM 102.3 and AM 740 Newstalk KRMG for updates on the other side of the story.

You can also check back here at www.KRMG.com.

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