Posted on 07/22/2011 1:14:25 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter
Among the pressures facing police officiers working the streets of America is the rising number of people legally carrying concealed guns. But when one such licensee was pulled over in Canton, Ohio, an officer threatened to shoot him on the spot. Here's the chilling video.
The arrest took place in early June, but the video only came to light today from a group called Ohioans for Concealed Carry. They had been working on behalf of the driver of the Pontiac Grand Prix, known so far only as William, who was arrested and charged in the stop.
As the 17-minute dashcam video shows, the two Canton police officers see the car pulled over in a neighborhood and detain a male passenger and a woman standing outside, whom the officers quickly identify as a prostitute. After telling the driver to stay put, they detain the male passenger and search the back of the car for a few minutes.
Only after that search does Officer Daniel Harless start questioning William, some seven minutes into the video — who then admits, when he can get a word in, that he has a concealed weapon, and tries to show Harless his permit. When he discovers William's gun in his belt, Harless instead becomes enraged: "You are supposed to say that right off the goddamned bat!"
Right now, the shit that you just pulled, I could blast you right in the mouth...I am so close to caving in you're goddamn head...you're just a stupid human being...People like you don't deserve to move throughout public. Stupid idiot."
After searching the car, getting worked up with his partner, and hearing from police dispatch that William does indeed have a legal permit to carry a concealed weapon, Harless comes back to the cruiser where William has been detained:
I swear to God man this little bull crap you just pulled right now has got me so hot. You know what I should have done? I'll tell you what I should have done. As soon as I saw your gun, I should have taken two steps back, pulled my Glock 40 and just put ten bullets in your ass and let you drop. And I wouldn'tve lost any sleep. And he would have been a nice witness as I executed you because you're stupid.
William was charged with two misdemeanor counts; one for stopping in the roadway, and another for failing to inform officers of his weapons.
After the video surfaced, the Canton police announced that Harless had been put on indefinite suspension last month, and the case forwarded to Internal Affairs. Ohio gun activists are raising money for William's defense. And the rest of us get to hope the next misunderstanding ends more amicably, rather than less.
Every time the CCW holder tried to tell the cop about being armed, the cop told him to "SHUT UP!"
It's pretty hard to inform someone of anything when they keep telling you to shut up, isn't it?
This thug with a badge belongs in a penitentiary, not out on the street badgering and bullying other citizens.
Ossifer Not-So-Friendly should not have gone to work if he was incapacitated for any reason.
Not just drugs and/or alcohol can incapacitate, so can emotional stresses.
In any case, going on the public time clock while impaired should be reason for dismissal. Being armed and impaired MUST result in immediate firing.
I would think that insurance companies would be all over that. Especially for folks with multiple DUI—if you could connect it to a GPS and cellular system to upload data, it would be very important to accident evaluation.
Not everybody realizes when they are in an unstable mood.
With all of the cop problems these days I am not worried about officer safety, I only worry about citizen safety.
If notifying the officer that the driver has a CCW permit is so important, why not require the police to ASK the question when asking for ID? The party with the interest is the party with the obligation to protect his interest.
Besides, with an obviously agitated cop, do you really want someone to take the risk of further agitating him by insisting on making a statement? How can you be sure that a cop who became agitated over nothing wouldn’t take the announcement as a threat?
During the litigation, which is highly likely to be filed, the LEO’s past will be examined in some detail. My guess is these LEO’s were doing this before.
Worse yet, the Top Cop is complicit in the clearly acceptance of such behavior.
BAD COPS! ! !
NO DONUTS ! ! !
Of course the cop is an idiot, but what he mostly is is a coward. He was obviously terrified out of his minimal wits, raving threats and abuse at this timid little man just because the citizen was legally armed.
Cowards should not be cops. Unfortunately, these days, they train ‘em to be cowards. If you are not totally comfortable with the (fairly low, actually) level of danger inherent to the job you should look for employment else where.
The timid little guy with the ccw tried twice to tell the cop and was told to shut up. You have to watch and listen carefully.
The cop was a terrified pansy, cruising on his own fear hormones and maybe some anabolic steroids. Cowards are not qualified to be cops. They are much too dangerous to those around them, both fellow cops and citizens.
Your instructor lied to you:
FL Constitution, Art I, SECTION 8. Right to bear arms.—
(subsection a) The right of the people to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves and of the lawful authority of the state shall not be infringed, except that the manner of bearing arms may be regulated by law.
As you can see, to disallow the people to bear arms in defense of themselves in a bar or State/County/Municipal courthouse is prohibited by this single sentence; the other subsections all deal with the sale/transference of 'handguns'.
The cop who went ballistic with respect to the legally armed, innocent citizen should not be a cop, and should be charged with kidnapping, terrorism, malfeasance, felony under color of law, and other charges as appropriate. This cowardly jerk was confident in his right to kill a citizen because he was momentarily "scared".
Cops need to have their collars tightened up, should they threaten, harm, or unlawfully interfere with a citizen: They should face sure, severe legal and civil consequences. Without such restraint, they are more dangerous than the criminal element they are hired to protect us against.
Am I prejudiced because I make assumptions every time I see one of these cops with a buzz cut?
This ain’t Parris Island. I don’t think any police force demands that look. I think these guys are making the same statement with their hair that hippies (and closer) skinheads always have. I’m sick of it.
>People have to understand that LE guys put their life on the line every day and it is much more dangerous and stressful at night.
I spent about a third of my deployment to Iraq doing night-shift; the police get ZERO sympathy from me on that argument.
How so? And what separates an "inexperienced" CCW holder from an "Experienced" one under these circumstances with an enraged LEO telling everyone to shut up?
I'm an "experienced" permit holder and the last thing I would want to do under the same circumstances when told to shut up at the beginning is intrude into the LEO's rant........
And here's another question that hasn't been asked: why didn't the enraged LEO approach the driver of the vehicle upon arrival of the police vehicle? He never even attempted to make contact with the driver until almost 10 minutes into the video.....There was no reason given for the alleged stop and no reason given for the possibly illegal search of the back seat........In fact, in the end, the enraged LEO yelled at the female to get out of there before he puts knots on her head..........
Sure they can! Can a 15 minute rant by an enraged LEO be considered abnormal and dangerous behavior of an armed individual who is entrusted with the public's health and welfare and required to maintain a level head and demeanor whenever dealing with the public?
Go ahead, fight city hall if you got a couple hundred grand to spend on legal fees....you'll still lose. And while you're at it, tell him he can probably open carry into that courhouse too............That should be fun to watch!..........LOL!
“What that cop did and appearantly has been doing should be a hanging offense. Threatening a citizen with lethal force under authority of the government should be a capital offense.”
I agree!
So what I want is a few like that, but with the crucial feature that they run, fill up the card, them just keep deleting old video and keep going. That way I won’t forget to set it going. It’s always the one time you go out for 5 minutes and don’t set the thing running that something happens.
And it also needs to just run when it’s turned on.
Then just hook up several to the 12V battery, covering many angles.
Those are pretty simple features, but important ones. Just a firmware update of what’s out there already.
I bet there are cheaper versions of the S&W that are as good. I know you can get them for like $30 on ebay but you often need to try a few until you find a good source.
Speaking of which, it seems that you are one that thinks ALL cops are “wild, violent, and insane”.
Universal statements are reckless, so indeed "ALL" would be wrong to say. I'm sure that Michael Vick had a "good" dog among the fighters.
A number of years ago, an article came out from a reliable source that claimed that the city of Chicago deliberately sought out to hire less than intelligent police officers because they "follow orders better". We also have many cities with a significant "diverse" demographic that is politically active and demands that officers must look like them in order to have good policing. Because that demographic is plagued by a very high incarceration rate among its males, the hiring policies had to be greatly relaxed allowing men and women with actual criminal records and drug abuse history to be eligible to fill the quotas.
Then we have websites like this one that is a cornucopia of feral police behavior.
It is a well known fact among mental health professionals that there is very little difference in the criminal mind and that of your typical LEO.
There seems to be an abundance of videos and other reports where one or more LEOs go insane on someone in custody in the presence of other officers, and those uniformed and on duty officers do nothing more than keep the crowd away when they should be taking down the LEO for armed battery. An interesting video surfaced where a large black female deliberately escalated and challenged a much smaller civilian into a fight. In the course of the scrapple the smaller one fought like a typical woman and went for the hair. The officer screamed "My WEAVE! My WEAVE!" and produced a weapon. Two male officers stood by with their arms crossed doing nothing for a while before finally stepping in to restrain the civilian while the larger one took a few more licks at the victim while screaming all kinds of more threats.
In view of the fact the female officer was definitely out of control and committed a few felonies, not a single officer bothered to pull her away or remove her weapon from her since she clearly was a danger to everyone present.
The point being, we have a police force that deliberately is wild, violent and stupid, see themselves as part of a brotherhood with superior rights with very little accountability. Many have substance abuse problems, little-man syndrome and a host of all kinds of personality defects that are manifest in casual conversation.
I know a number of folks when they were young and at the time seemed OK in that their personalities didn't stick out as odd or creepy. Running into them a few years after they have been wearing the uniform and I don't recognize them anymore. So there is clearly something about the job that works as a catalyst with latent ethical and mental defects to create these feral monsters that now prowl the streets.
Seriously, what kind of person wakes up each day with the thought that they are going to make the lives of everyone they meet miserable? Who enjoys receiving a huge traffic citation? I see people doing stupid things on the roadways a lot, but I can't ever imagine taking delight in hiding behind shrubs or signs with the intention of bringing pain and anger to someone for committing a victimless "crime". Yet there are people who do this every day.
What kind of person dreams of cracking skulls and shooting someone? What kind of person has no problems whipping out a gun and shooting someone's pet or "shooting in the direction of" someone's pet (and children)? What kind of person enjoys and jokes about electrocuting people, or deliberately smashing the head of a detainee into the roof of the squad car "to teach them a lesson"? Some of these guys like squeezing the cuffs too tight on their prisoners, or getting a few extra licks in for the amusement of themselves and their buddies. They joke about this as would a sadistic sociopath.
So that is the background.
Consider the recent revelation that for the past decade or so Atlanta students have been denied an education while their grades were tampered with to put into question their ability to meet graduation requirements. This same demographic is also over represented in the criminal justice system, and is easily stereotyped as violent and lazy. You asked the question "do you think ALL cops are...". Let me return with the rhetorical question "do you think ALL black kids from Atlanta would make lousy employees in respect to white or Asian counterpart?" The chances are much higher that you will end up with a lemon of an employee if you choose from one demographic over another and that may help explain why the unemployment rates are so high for that group.
Obviously all blacks graduates from Atlanta school systems are not going to be problems for you, but enough of them would be that it isn't worth the risk, and you don't have the time, money or legal resources to completely vet out every résumé that comes by your desk - you must "profile".
Likewise, when you see graduating classes for recruits with slogans like "We don't get PTSD we give it." or when the Denver police make T-shirts for their officers as a souvenir of the Democratic Convention with the slogan "We get up early to beat the crowds" you are seeing evidence that you will be given a defective product, and cities like Chicago want and cultivate that sort of defective product in hiring practices, the above-the-law attitude they have for officers, and never forget the unions that turn any felony into a paid two week suspension.
I don't have the time or resources to vet out each LEO that I may come across in my daily activities, and that is why if my car is jacked, my home burgled, or I am the target of someone's assault - there won't be any call to the police because who knows what kind of person will respond to the call?
Years ago we had a law in TX that required motorcyclists wear helmets. In short order mine was stolen while I was visiting a friend. My home was only a mile away so I decided to "risk it". Yes, the most important thing for the officer to do was write a citation. When I took that opportunity to report the helmet stolen, I was given a business card with a number to call to report it - and off he drove to accost another citizen. Writing the citation was the only function that LEO was willing to do. Taking a report on a theft - had zero interest in doing it.
When my home was broken in to, the M.O. pointed to a known perp but claimed that they "couldn't do anything about it". They wanted to search my home, looking under beds, poking around in closets, and they took down a lot of personal information about me - wanting to know my SSN even. After the event I felt more violated by the police than by the crim that stole my guitar and amplifier.
In every stop that resulted in a citation, the officer always wanted to escalate the encounter - accusing me of doing drugs, or "going to kill someone by my 10 over the posted", claiming that I matched the description of some other crim - all for the sake of claiming PC to ransack my car.
I have zero respect for them because I don't have the time to sort out good from the bad and clearly the bad greatly outweigh the good.
The good know who they are, and since I don't have reason to run across them in a professional sense, and since my economic and social class removes me from rubbing elbows with them in casual environments, I probably will not know the "good" ones since they are probably professional and respectable enough to be able to set priorities and do the job We The People expect them to do.
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