SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A video making the rounds on social media– that is raising a lot of questions about the integrity of two Springfield police officers.There’s a video making the rounds on social media– that is raising a lot of questions about the integrity of two Springfield police officers.

You can see two Springfield officers knock on a lady’s door– notice her surveillance camera, then one of them puts a piece of black electrical tape over it.

She says she’s always respected police, until now.

“There is no reason whatsoever for that to have been done,” said Frances Gill. She is upset that a police officer would do that.

“Big no no.”

In a two hour period on the evening of December 16– police were called to Gill’s north Springfield apartment building four times for disturbances. Gill says in her neighborhood, it often gets unruly, and some drink too much.

“With all that commotion going on, we decided to leave and go to a friend’s house so I could calm down. When we came back home, that’s when we noticed the tape on there and I didn’t know what had happened,” said Gill.

Gill says she was shocked, and disturbed to roll back her tape, and see it was a man in uniform who covered it up.

“It disappointed me very much because I expected better of police than that.”

Frances was not the one in trouble during any of the calls, and has no criminal record.

She says she doesn’t know why police knocked at her door, and they never announced who they were. She’s especially disturbed regarding why police would ever cover up a camera– and her peep hole.

Springfield police tell us they first saw the video of their two officers covering up the security camera on Facebook. They say they saw it two days after the incident happened. According to the department, at that time, Chief Paul Williams says he asked his internal affairs team to investigate and to work with Frances on how to go about filing a formal complaint.

So is it criminal what they did?

“It’s not a crime, it’s not illegal for the officer to do that, but it is a violation of her constitutional rights, it’s a civil right that she has,” explained defense attorney Dee Wampler.

Furthermore, he says it exacerbates a culture of distrust among all citizens.

“I don’t think it’s good police practice and it doesn’t lend confidence in police work when you see something like that happen,” Wampler said.

“It seems like they judge me by where I live, not by who I am. And that’s not right, you don’t do that.”

Springfield police would not do an interview with us, but sent this statement.

“We are investigating this situation to determine exactly what occurred, and it would be inappropriate for us to discuss this matter while the investigation is underway.”

The courts have affirmed a citizen’s right to videotape police, as long as you don’t interfere with them.

After an internal investigation into an incident in the lobby of the Clark County Jail Sheriff Gene Kelly terminated three deputies.

Sergeants Krista Cox, Eric Sullivan, and Carrie Taylor were fired after an internal investigation into dereliction of duty.

The termination is the result of an incident in the lobby of the Clark County Sheriff’s Office on May 13, 2015 involving an intoxicated male.

The investigation was overseen by a Clinton County Sheriff’s employee and all the policy violations each sergeant was charged with were upheld.

As a result of the hearing officers report Sheriff Kelly terminated all three sergeants.

Krista Cox was hired on June 30, 2006 and was promoted to Sergeant on May 11, 2011.  Carrie Taylor was hired on September 27, 1999 and was promoted to Sergeant on July 6, 2012.  Eric Sullivan was hired on January 17, 1992 and was promoted to Sergeant on June 1, 2006.

The investigation started after a man was seen on camera intoxicated in the lobby of the jail. 2 NEWS obtained a video from a witness that shows former Clark County Deputy Christopher Dent intoxicated. When a witness tried to help Dent get up from the floor a fight began.

Sheriff Kelly said at the time he believed Dent was crying out for help.

Surveillance video of the incident shows a deputy walking past the scene without intervening. From that video it appears it took 15 minutes for someone with the Sheriff’s Office to address Dent.

You can watch some of the video below.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Springfield police department is investigating the murder of an unarmed man killed in the back yard of a home along the 1400-block of North Marion Ave. The investigation has left many in Springfield outraged, as the murder victim, Michael Ireland, 31, was shot and killed by an officer of that very police department.

A statement from officials last month said two sets of investigators — both of which are divisions of the Springfield Police Department — would look into the murder themselves.

Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams

“The Springfield Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Section is conducting a criminal investigation into the incident … the SPD Internal Affairs Unit will conduct an internal investigation of the officer’s actions.”

— Chief Paul Williams

Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams admitted that the policy of the police investigating themselves has been met with skepticism, but in his five years in Springfield, he claims he has not received any complaints about the results of the investigations.

“We do things the right way,” Williams said. “We present the evidence that is there and let the chips fall where they may.”

The policy flies in the face of recommendations from the White House task force made earlier this week to allow external investigations of all police shootings. The recommendation is thought to “help improve the culture of police departments build greater trust and legitimacy with all segments of the population.”

Before Williams was hired, the Springfield Police Department had an agreement with the Missouri State Highway Patrol which would allow the highway patrol to take over an investigation. The agreement came into play once before, when Springfield City Councilman Nick Ibarra was investigated in 2011 for running down two people with his car in a road rage incident. Williams asked the Highway Patrol to look into the matter to “ensure an unbiased review of the facts as the investigation progresses.”

Williams says he never seriously considered taking advantage of the agreement for the murder investigation of Michael Ireland.

Williams justifies his position by claiming that, despite asking the Highway Patrol to take over other recent investigations, his department has the the most qualified investigators. Williams did not comment on the fact that past uses of the Highway Patrol did not involve incidents where officers in his employ shot and killed an unarmed man.

“We have the most expertise, in that area, in the entire region. It is hard for us to find an agency that we could turn this over to without looking to Kansas City or St. Louis.”

— Chief Paul Williams

Williams emphasized that Springfield police will not ultimately make the decision whether the shooting is considered by authorities to be justified. After his department investigates its own officers for killing the unarmed man, it will turn the evidence it assembles and collects over to the Greene County prosecutor’s office. Prosecuting attorney Dan Patterson will decide whether or not to file charges.

“When the ruling comes out there, that is what we go with,” Williams said. “Justified or not justified, that is what we go with.”

Michael Ireland was shot and killed by Springfield police while unarmed.

In a prepared press statement, police allege Ireland ran from officers when they arrived some time after 10 p.m. at a residence on West Division Street. Police say Officer Andrew Bath caught up with Ireland and, according to the prepared press statement, “at some point during the ensuing encounter, the officer shot the suspect one time in the chest and he died at the scene shortly afterward.”