Canton Cop Threatens to Execute Driver Over Weapons Permit

[zack991]

Once the cop pulled over Chuck Norris....the cop was lucky to leave with a warning.

 

[JBarL]

Well If I was the man in the vehicle and I had a officer like that come to me after him telling me he would pull his gun out and shoot 10 times I would hope that it was recorded cause I persue to the fullest of the law with a attorney and take it to court I would Own that city cause he made a threat by telling the man he would emopty his gun And if he did actually pull after those words well it would have been a showdown on the streets. cause I would have been so Pi**ed. and trust me I would be in court and after that idiot got fired I would be whoopin his A** all over the street lol. But seriously I hope this man sues the hell outof the Mentally Disturb soon to be Ex Cop and then persue to go after the City for emotional distress and fales imprisionment, and defimation of charactor, and terristic threats and whatever else I could think of. but point being this Man was just treated so wrong that cop over step his boundries and should be in Jail.

 

[IxionDeece]

That is the same cop that people around Ohio are trying to get fired and prosecuted!!

 

[Brian D.]

Sorry I don't have a link right now, but guess what? There's another dashcam video of Officer Harless threatening a subject/suspect with being shot to death, from one year ago--July 28th 2010. Same vitriol about shooting the guy in the head, and sleeping peacefully afterwards.

There's also been some rumblings on the Ohio gun forums grapevine about yet more "unflattering" dashcam videos from these two cops, still to come

 

[Deanimator]

There's also been some rumblings on the Ohio gun forums grapevine about yet more "unflattering" dashcam videos from these two cops, still to come

Oh, I was SURE that there would be. I haven't seen the comment though. Got a link?

 

[Alexcabbie]

Sorry I don't have a link right now, but guess what? There's another dashcam video of Officer Harless threatening a subject/suspect with being shot to death, from one year ago--July 28th 2010. Same vitriol about shooting the guy in the head, and sleeping peacefully afterwards.

There's also been some rumblings on the Ohio gun forums grapevine about yet more "unflattering" dashcam videos from these two cops, still to come

That does it. I am going to get the Canton Police email and send them a piece of my mind.

I had been worried that certain aspects of my upcoming novel "The Peterson Investigation" would cast a certain type of LEO in a too-harsh light, and that indeed NO leo would EVER do what one of them in the book does.

Now I am aware that I may have written prophecy instead of fiction.

(self promo: coming soon on Kindle, price $3.99)

 

[Alexcabbie]

RATZ!!! No email address on their site.
With cops like Harless on the force, though, their link would probably overheat and set the office on fire. Maybe it's a public safety issue, like Officer Harless is. :cuss:

 

[okboomer]

Link to Old Dashcam Video of Harless Going off on citizen

http://www.cantonrep.com/news/x2014919089/Video-Officer-Harless-loses-his-temper-on-another-arrest

 

[Alexcabbie]

Street interviews

Well, in the second vid the arrestee was unlawfully possessing a gun and it was a DUI stop. Harless probably had good cause to be afraid, these guys seem to be bonafide bad guys and not law-abiding milquetoasts like the first driver.

Seems to me in the second vid the gun-holder had tried to kick the gun under the seat after becoming aware that the car was about to be pulled over. It doesn't help that most of the vid is a shot of the empty driver's seat and we can't see what the subjects are doing to provoke the cop.

Nevertheless, all the yelling and threats are not the behaviour of a "trained law enforcement professional". Harless and his partner should have separated the two so they couldn't co-ordinate their stories, called for backup, then interviewed the two separately and compared notes; then confronted them with discrepancies in their accounts.

Shouted threats to open fire are okay if someone seems to be reaching for a gun. But Harless seems to reserve his worst venom for after his suspect is rendered harmless.

If it had been me in back of the badge, I'd have called the guy "sir" and asked how the gun had come to be between his feet. Oh. I mioght haver said: "keep your hands where I can see them and do what I tell you to when I tell you or you are a dead mother f*&^er" when I spotted the gun, but once I had them handcuffed I would be the voice of reason.

Any of you LEOs reading this tell me if I am wrong. What you want to do in a case like this is sorta offer the suspect some sort of reason he might be doing what he was doing, and that way he might make what is legally known as an "exculpatory statement" (in layman's terms a lame excuse) that would help build the case against him.


What Harless misses is the fact that a handcuffed suspect wants out of those cuffs. Know what I would have done?


I'd have said, "Hey, sir, I'm sorry we had to be so rough. But you know, when you're a cop and you stop somebody at zero-dark-thirty and there's a gun, we get a little nervous is all. Hey, this is a tough town. I understand why a guy might want some protection. It's completely understandable, so what made you want to have the piece?"


At that point 9 out of 10 a-holes will think they have a chance at jiving their way out of any further inconvenience, and thouroughly incriminate themselves.


Officer Harless no doubt stops lots of wrong-doers. How many of them have ultimately walked because he considers it his main mission in life to show the word what a badass with a badge he is?

In addition to being a dyed-in-the-wool bully, Harless is one stupid LEO. He may have just as well screamed, "YOU ARE UNDER ARREST. DONT SAY ANYTHING AND GET A LAWYER, AND SUE ME AND MY DEPARTMENT FOR BRUTALITY AFTER YOU GET ACQUITTED!"

Present and former LEOs on this forum, am I right or am I wrong?

 

[zack991]

Allen Schulman, Idiot of the Day PDF Print E-mail
Written by Philip Mulivor
Tuesday, 26 July 2011 11:36
OPINION by PHIL MULIVOR
http://www.ohioccw.org/201107264959/allen-schulman-idiot-of-the-day.html

Dazed and hapless Canton councilman tries to swim in the tsunami

At a Canton City Council meeting on July 25, Council President Allen Schulman angrily chastised citizens who have expressed concerns about Canton and its police force in the wake of the Daniel Harless meltdown. He went on to whine about having received a lot of email.


Whined about email. Did you get that?

Schulman, you're lucky that there isn't civil unrest on your very doorstep. While neither I nor OFCC advocate that approach, I'm surprised that it hasn't happened. Whatever develops from this point forward, one thing is certain: Your public relations hellstorm hasn't even begun to kick up sparks.

A police officer you employ to protect the citizens of Canton threatened to execute an unarmed citizen in handcuffs. I forget if that was before or after the cop threatened to "cave in his head," "blast him in the mouth," and "step back and put 10 rounds in him."

Now, what type of statement would Canton voters, and citizens everywhere, reasonably expect from the Canton City Council president?

Here, let me help you out:
"The City of Canton condemns the unlawful behavior of Daniel Harless, and has terminated his employment with the Canton Police Department. A pending investigation will determine if Mr. Harless will face criminal charges. Moreover, by August 15 we will have initiated an in-service training program designed to strengthen our police department and ensure that this type of incident cannot happen again. Finally, all charges against the defendant have been unconditionally dropped. We continue to call upon all Canton residents to place their full trust in our police department, as together we move past this horrific incident."

That sure beats Schulman's public clownery on July 25.

Canton councilman comments where caught on tape video link at the link above.

 

[TFred]

If I was as bad at my job as this guy is, I guess I'd be afraid of guns too.

The one most important fact that I observed regarding these two videos is that after the first one, you'd think someone might have pulled the guy aside to teach him how to properly clear a car. In the recent video, if the victim had truly been a bad guy, there would be one less cop in Ohio.

It's no wonder the guy hates guns so much... he hasn't got a clue how to handle people with them in the field. It's only a matter of time before this guy is killed by some scumbag.

TFred

 

[cyras21]

the video that air second is from a stop back in 2010 prior to the fist one that caught everyone's attention.

 

[Alexcabbie]

If I was as bad at my job as this guy is, I guess I'd be afraid of guns too.

The one most important fact that I observed regarding these two videos is that after the first one, you'd think someone might have pulled the guy aside to teach him how to properly clear a car. In the recent video, if the victim had truly been a bad guy, there would be one less cop in Ohio.

It's no wonder the guy hates guns so much... he hasn't got a clue how to handle people with them in the field. It's only a matter of time before this guy is killed by some scumbag.

TFred

+1, Fred.

Maybe Officer Harless needs to be dismissed to avoid the expense of a cop funeral.

As I said above, Harless probably blew a few chances to find out what the guy was really up to. It's not just that he can't handle gun situations, it's that the idiot keeps intimidating them when they're helpless. If I had a guy in cuffs, I'd all of a sudden be his friend who wanted him to help me find a reason to get him out of those cuffs. That's how you get BGs to start talking, and once they do they don't stop.

If I had made that stop and spotted the gun, it would have been: "Sir, don't move unless I tell you to. Keep your hands where I can see them and step out of the car... Now face away from me and walk backwards toward the sound of my voice..." and so on. Then once everyone was securely cuffed, we could go about finding out what the hell was really up. Not only does he act like a rabid gorilla, his demeanor has probably let some bad actors get off with a relatively minor charge when; if the field interview was conducted correctly information might have been developed pointing toward the resolution of a much more serious case.

If a cop doesn't know whether he's got Jesse James in custody, it's usually best to treat the prisoner as if the cop presumes there's not much more to things than the patently obvious. More criminals get snared by thinking they can fool the cops than get caught because they were caught dead-bang.

 

[TFred]

the video that air second is from a stop back in 2010 prior to the fist one that caught everyone's attention.

I know that. But he didn't properly clear the car in either of them, so as far as my point, it doesn't really matter.

TFred

 

[JoeSparky]

+1, Fred.

Maybe Officer Harless needs to be dismissed to avoid the expense of a cop funeral.

SNIP... It's not just that he can't handle gun situations, it's that the idiot keeps intimidating them when they're helpless. ...SNIP

Had to pull this particular sentence out of what you wrote... Don't disagree with your comments at all! Just felt that this line needed more emphasis....

ANYONE WHO INSISTS ON "INTIMIDATING THE HELPLESS" IS NOTHING MORE OR LESS THAN A BULLY!


And to continue to have him represent the CITY of Canton as a LEO is a slap in the face of any and all LAW ABIDING PERSONS LIVING IN CANTON!

 

[Alexcabbie]

Intimidating a helpless suspect in a custodial situation is a valid part of the classic "good cop/bad cop" method, AND properly done, it's Hoyle. However, scaring the wits out of some schmoe in retaliation for having the crap scared out of you is indeed the hallmark of a bullying lout.

To do "good cop/bad cop" right, there has to be a "good cop" immediately present, and the "bad cop" routine is just an act. A terrifying act, yes; but an act nonetheless.

Now from what I have seen, Harless is (as is common with Ohio cops) a pretty beefy dude. In both vids, the guys he's effing with he could have probably picked up and pile-driven them headfirst three feet into the pavement. Most of us here know that when we are armed we are probably even more polite and genteel than we usually are, because we are confident and have no desire to have an argument. And indeed, the words "polite" and "police" have a common linguistic root.


I pity Officer Harless. No, really. For all his size and physical superiority he is scared out if his wits at the possibility of any kind of relationship he might have turning out to be one wherein he is evenly matched. He is also scared out of his wits every time he goes to roll-call. Maybe he has a wife and kids that he wants very much to return to at end of watch. He's probably worried about what will become of them if he is suddenly no more. Dollars to donuts he's the kinda guy who in a different economy be selling tractors to Central Ohio farmers.


Let's give Officer Harless a little (very little) break. He isn't really a cop, isn't really cut out for it. Canton ought to give him the opportunity to step down quietly and then find someone who understands law enforcement to take his place. I think if you wound up sitting next to him and his family in some restaurant and his kids and yours started interacting with each other, you might even find him to be a likeable freind.


I betcha that he has elderly neighbors for whom he has shoveled out driveways in some Ohio snowstorm. Let's not just judge the man based on a couple of videotapes, at least not as to what the complete man is all about.


NOW HAVING WRITTEN ALL OF THIS, AND BELIEVING THAT IT IS VALID, I MUST MAKE THE FOLLOWING OBSERVATION:


Officer Harless is not capable of excersizing the office of Peace Officer in the State of Ohio (or anywhere else for that matter, and deep down he probably wants to do something - ANYTHING! - else). He should be summarily dismissed WITH PENSION from the Canton Police, and fallout from his actions dealt with by the City of Canton.


As frightened as were the people he was dealing with in the two examples we have seen; still it ought to be clear that the most frightened person in those vids was Officer Harless. Personally, I thank Officer Harless for his attempt to do the very dangerous and mostly thankless job of enforcing the Law and keeping the Peace.


However, while it is more than understandable that a police officer fears the day that his child wakes up and asks: "Where's Daddy?" only to be met with tearful relatives; that possibility is contained in the job from the get-go. Most cops accept this as the sacrifice they are called to possibly make.


Harless however made HIS priority getting home safely to his family. This is a good thing, except that he was willing to drive roughshod over any other consideration to achieve this result. He is a "cuff 'em, Stuff 'em. go home and hug the kids" cop; which is to say not really in the final analysis not much of a cop at all.


He tried. Give him his pension and let him go home.

 

[okboomer]

Allen Schulman, Idiot of the Day PDF Print E-mail
Canton councilman comments where caught on tape video link at the link above.

Heck, I was so upset that I actually transcribed his diatribe:

Canton City Council President Alan Schulman: from AM 640 WHLO News

You know we are all honored and priveledged to serve the city and it's citizens and there has been a recent attention drawn to one of our police officers regarding the carrying a concealed weapon that drew many out of town emails.

I have been as a lawyer on both sides of police issues. I have represented true victims of police abuse and I have defended police officers against unwarranted charges challenging their behavior.

I don't intend to make any comments tonight about this particular incident or this particular police officer or the person that was stopped.

But I did want to make a comment reflecting the out of town emails that we have all received from people who do not live in this community, do not know our police, do not know the firefighters, do not know our public servants, our employees, know nothing about the city of Canton. But because a video went viral on the internet they are excoriating the city of Canton out of this particular incident and their excoriating our police force, it's conduct and our city. I take very strong exception to what I have read, what I have heard from out of towners making comments about our city.

This is in my judgement a sympton of this arming, literally the arming of our population with handguns and the flooding of handguns into our communities. These laws that allow our citizens to carry a concealed weapon at a university, in a school, in a bar where a liquor is served, in automobiles in the worst part of our neighborhoods where there is high crime, drugs, prostitution and somebody is packing a ruger at 1:30 in the morning. That's not acceptable in our society.

And I told one caller who called me from Phoenix, AZ yesterday who complained about our police and this particular incident, I said to him, "You want to know something my friend, you can blame our city, but you're next." Because as long as these laws permit people to carry weapons under the worst of circumstances and in the worst situations there are deaths waiting to happen, either police officers or citizens who think by arming themselves they are somehow safe.

So, my only remarks tonight are designed to those out of town people who are complaining about our police department and our city. Believe me, if you allow the kind of carry concealed weapons laws that are in existance in Ohio and are all over the United States you're going to have the same problems over and over again and deaths will result.

Finally, I, just for those people who are going to say that I am against guns, I am not against weapons, I am not against hand guns, I am not against people that hunt with weapons, but we all should believe in common sense, reasonable gun control laws that don't allow this kind of thing to happen at 1:30 in the morning in a crime ridden neighborhood with prostitution and drugs when we sit every week and listen to our citizens step forward saying "we want to be protected." Well, we are being protected. And I know the police department and the safety director and the mayor will investigate this thoroughly and thats one of the benefits of having a video that allows our citizens some transparency as to what happens in these stops. But these laws are completely insane.

I just so love the last sentence :banghead:

 

[TFred]

Heck, I was so upset that I actually transcribed his diatribe:

Canton City Council President Alan Schulman: from AM 640 WHLO News

...

This is in my judgement a sympton of this arming, literally the arming of our population with handguns and the flooding of handguns into our communities. These laws that allow our citizens to carry a concealed weapon at a university, in a school, in a bar where a liquor is served, in automobiles in the worst part of our neighborhoods where there is high crime, drugs, prostitution and somebody is packing a ruger at 1:30 in the morning. That's not acceptable in our society.

Translation: Let's just chuck that whole Second Amendment right out on its ear.

Dude, there's a whole host of tyrannical countries looking for more management... I'll even chip in for your plane ticket.

ETA: As long as it's a one-way ticket....

TFred

 

[Alexcabbie]

Thanx for the extensive quote, OKboomer.

Now everybody can plainly see an example of the political device known as "argle-bargle". Let me translate what this idiot said:

"It's bad enough that we have bad people armed with guns all around us. Now we want to arm the good people. Why do we want to turn good defenseless folks into people who can defend themselves, when after all we have police? I mean, where there are guns, there are fatalities. So let's make sure that the only people who are able to kill anyone are either bad guys or cops. This is the 21st Century, we have 911. Are you trying to say you cannot duck hot lead or whatever for three minutes whilke the cops respond?

 

[okboomer]

And, he doesn't like it happening at oh-dark-thirty ... I mean, seriously, the ONLY folks out at that time of night are the BGs according to this arsewipe.

Heck, he would probably have been happier if Harless had shot the CCW carrier :cuss: