Dash Cam: Canton PD "Notification" Arrest & Officer Goes Berserk / Threatens

[Bob Hubbard]

Canton Ohio Dash Cam footage.
The material in question starts at about 6:45

What follows is horrific example of a police officer losing all self-control, threatening to beat the female, threatening to beat the driver and eventually saying he should have executed him "and wouldn't have lost any sleep over it" that night.

Harless has since been placed on administrative leave while the incident is investigated, according to the Canton Repository.

Even the Canton Police Chief criticized his behavior.

“I think it’s important for citizens to understand that the behavior demonstrated on the video is wholly unacceptable, and it violates many of our rules, our regulations and standards we demand of our officers,” Chief Dean McKimm said Thursday.
​

What's even more chilling is that Harless reacted that way knowing he was being videotaped by his own dash cam.​

 

[MJS]

If we're lucky these 2 cops will be fired. This is a perfect example of 2 people that should not be cops. Given the fact that there were 2 officers, you'd think one would talk to the female while the other is dealing with the driver. Yes, I understand that traffic stops are dangerous, and going on what is said in the clip, this may not be the greatest area, but you have to be professional. I've been stopped a few times at night, and each time, I was asked if I had any weapons in the car, to which I said no.

I think the biggest problem here, is that this was never established from the beginning. Had he asked the driver the necessary questions, he may've established a weapon was in the car. But he was more concerned with going thru the car. I'd imagine its protocol to remove all people from the car before a search, no?

 

[seasoned]

I watched the video twice, and got a sick feeling of what could have happened. I'm not sure where the drivers hands were, but I am sure he wasn't holding that permit in his hand all night. At some point he had to have reached into his pocket to get it. losing track of peoples hands can get an officer into big trouble under the circumstances shown in the video. This is the stuff training tapes are made of. Nuff said............

 

[Stealthy]

So these are the people we are supposed to trust?

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, police are part of the problem not the solution.

 

[MJS]

Speaking for myself only, but I dont want to see this thread turn into some cop bashing thread. I grew up in a LE family and my job today consists of working with them, in addition to having many close friends who're LEOs/COs, etc, so I do have a respect for them, and IMO, I dont think that the 'bad cop' vids that're out there, should be the platform for how every LEO in the world is.

I dont know the rules/regs of this PD, nor do I know how long each officer in the clip has been on the job. From an outsider looking in though, this doesnt cast too good of a light on that particular PD.

 

[Archangel M]

Was anybody struck, shot, tasered, clubbed, etc? No.

Was this cop over the top and wrong with his rant? Yes.

Is all the head hunting for a cops termination absent any background knowledge of the stop or this particular officers disciplinary history presumptuous? Yes.

If this is an example of how he normally operates perhaps termination is warranted. If not, then maybe some unpaid suspension.

 

[Sukerkin]

From a British perspective, I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that one, Angel.

Just one incident of that kind without some form of demonstrable extreme provocation should be a career ending incident. We, the voting public, do not want officers who do not have superhuman control of their emotions and behaviour when they are on duty.

It's not fair on the individual, I know, but letting Little Hitlers represent the law is just the thin end of the wedge.

That said, as you noted, some of the wording makes me ponder the background to this. It doesn't sound like the Officer just decided to take a instant dislike to these poeple and go 'off on one'.

 

[MJS]

Was anybody struck, shot, tasered, clubbed, etc? No.

Given his actions and temper, I'm surprised that it didn't get to that point.

Was this cop over the top and wrong with his rant? Yes.

Agree.

Is all the head hunting for a cops termination absent any background knowledge of the stop or this particular officers disciplinary history presumptuous? Yes.

If this is an example of how he normally operates perhaps termination is warranted. If not, then maybe some unpaid suspension.

Going on the video only, we can assume that the area is a known problem area, ie: drugs, prostitution, gangs, etc. We can assume they thought the guy was trying to pick up a prostitute. We can assume that the female was a prostitute or former prostitute. That being said, we can assume this was a justified stop.

No, I dont know this officers track record, ie: does he have any prior complaints filed against him, so perhaps it was a bit harsh for me to call for him to be fired. OTOH, officers like this are IMO, a serious liability. Its unlikely that unless someone files a complaint, that this guys supervisors are aware of his actions, but considering we have quite a bit of unprofessional behavior on tape, the least this guy should get is a week or two w/o pay.

Yes, I understand there is a 'brotherhood' amongst LEOs, but personally, if I were a LEO, I wouldn't want to work with a guy like this. This guy has zero self control, a huge ego, and if presented with a similar situation, just may follow thru with his words, and blow someone away.

Again, I'm not anti cop, but I'm also not afraid to call a spade a spade.

 

[jks9199]

I have not spent the 20 minutes or so to watch the whole video, but I have read a fair amount of commentary about it so far. My opinions are very tentative, therefore.

Was the officer's conduct unprofessional? It certainly seems so!

But there is a difference between words and action. I suspect we've all had a though cross our minds along the lines of "the next person who pisses me off is going to get it" or "I could just walk down this aisle, laying waste to everyone around me." I'll admit that I've had thoughts like that. I've even, in private, given voice to them. But I haven't carried any of those thoughts out.

Just about every agency (nearly every squad) has someone who's got a knack for pissing people off and can't manage to find that place of dealing with the public as if they are actually human as a rule. Some of those guys are great cops, so long as they've got someone to sort of run interference for them. Others? In a perfect world, they'd be discovered and dealt with (either re-trained, or sent packing) by the end of field training -- but sometimes, you just can't tell till the person is really on their own. Sometimes, they have to be on their own for a while for the dumbassery to show. And sometimes, it's a reaction to stressors and other issues. I know I've caught myself being shorter with people sometimes due to stuff I'm dealing with from work that wasn't their fault. So, before I condemn this guy and say he needs to be fired, I'm going to have to first, watch the video, and second, know a lot more.

 

[Archangel M]

"Fair punishment" rarely enters into the equation when it comes to Leo's. If superhuman...zero mistake or never a "bad day" people is what you honestly expect, you are going to be sorely disappointed. This video in and of itself is a suspension at the least with termination possible depending on record. And even that record needs to be looked at closely. A cop with no disciplinary record at all is probably a do nothing slug.

 

[jks9199]

OK, watching the video as I type. Some tactical issues I don't like. We just crossed 100 LODDs, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page; we don't need to give away opportunities for more. Not tearing into them here.

Conduct was absolutely unprofessional, and unsafe. He thought he had a prostitution case (I'd say he did have one, incidentally, based on the circumstantial case in the video), and never bothered to identify everyone. I don't know what's going to happen with the apparent arrest. I also think this was the actions of a couple of cops who were suddenly pissed off and scared because they essentially got caught with their pants down.

However, some of it is also being interpreted colorfully, I think. Neither officer stated an intent or desire to shoot the driver. They essentially said that, through the failure to advise the officers promptly of the gun, a scenario can easily occur where the gun is suddenly discovered, and the driver being shot. Yes, they stated it very strongly, and in menacing way. While it may not have been the cleanest shooting -- it could have easily led to a defensible shooting. I've said similiar things to people ("If you had pulled that out of your pants, I'd have been pointing a real gun at you, and if you had pointed it my way -- I'd have shot you." talking to a kid about a BB-gun, for example.) The comment about giving some lumps to the woman was real bad -- but it may reflect the nature of the community as much as anything else. You do sometimes have to speak in language that folks will understand...

All in all... not good. But far from horrible, either. My guess is that someone will be getting some time off, refresher training, and maybe even anger management assessment. In short, a real bad hit in his personnel file. But I wouldn't expect either cop to be fired unless there are deeper problems.

 

[Archangel M]

Depending on the states pistol permit laws, I think the gun owners permit needs to be reconsidered if he routinely carries it to defend himself while trolling the crack head district in search of hookers. If indeed that is the case.

 

[jks9199]

Depending on the states pistol permit laws, I think the gun owners permit needs to be reconsidered if he routinely carries it to defend himself while trolling the crack head district in search of hookers. If indeed that is the case.

Absolutely. That's a whole different question. His "explanations" ring rather hollow, to me. And they changed as the encounter went on.

I kind of doubt that the charges will stick in full. The officers's actions have jeopardized the case, I think. The driver has a lot of evidence that they never really presented him much of an opportunity to advise him. I have heard that there's another video floating around from the second officer; that'd be interesting to see. I'd like to know what effort the driver made to advise that officer that he was armed while he searched the car.

 

[Grenadier]

I have a lot of mixed feelings on this video.

There are lots of mistakes on the LEO's part.

The unprofessional behavior is certainly a huge issue here. Any time I've been stopped by law enforcement personnel (for checkpoints, or yes, even in a couple of traffic situations), they've always given me a chance to inform them at the first opportunity, regarding lawful concealed carry. This has been true in several states.

Even in other cases, where someone may be significantly less-wholesome than I am (heh), they're going to give you a bit of time as soon as possible, to inform them.

Now, I am not a law enforcement officer, but even here, I question the wisdom of searching a vehicle with someone inside it...

After having watched the whole video, I can't quite call this a threat against the driver. Unprofessional, certainly, especially where he starts screaming about how he *could* have put 10 .40 caliber bullets into him, but at no point in the video did he say that he was going to put 10 .40 caliber bullets into him.

Some of the people making comments about this video on other forums haven't quite been correct when they post what they thought the officer said.

This does not excuse what he said, though.

Now, does this mean that the driver is a saint and angel? Of course not. He was being rather foolish driving around in an area where it's known to be laden with hookers and pimps. This whole mess could have been avoided, had he exercised a bit of common sense.

There's an old adage, of "those who go looking for trouble, usually find it."

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Second Video Emerges Of Hot-Tempered Canton Police Officer
Video once again shows Daniel Harless threatening to kill citizen
http://www.pixiq.com/article/second-video-emerges-of-hot-tempered-canton-police-officer

Here is just a small sample of what Harless told the man he pulled over.
"Do not move a muscle or I will put you in the grave."
"I’ll shoot you in the face and I’ll go to sleep tonight."

I only listened to part of this. At one point someone, I assume Harless, is swearing up a storm sounding quite put out. As the profanitys and threats pour out, another cop walks casually across the screen, in no hurry, showing no sign of distress. This would suggest to me that there was no danger to Harless or any other officers.
So, what is the need to swear and yell?
Everything I caught looked to take place off camera, so no idea what was going on, but the absence of haste on the wandering cop suggests it wasn't a big deal.

 

[Stealthy]

http://www.pixiq.com/article/citizen-video-captures

The really good dash cams always seem to go missing.

 

[Tez3]

http://www.pixiq.com/article/citizen-video-captures

The really good dash cams always seem to go missing.

I'm guessing from your posts you don't like police officers full stop, none of them, anywhere.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

http://www.pixiq.com/article/citizen-video-captures

The really good dash cams always seem to go missing.

Different issue though.

 

[Stealthy]

I'm guessing from your posts you don't like police officers full stop, none of them, anywhere.

"you don't like" is indicative of an active personal aversion which is indicative of a very base mind, I neither like nor dislike police, I really don't care about them either way.

I do however see a problem with the general sheepish behaviour of the majority of society due to the blind acceptance that police always know best and can magically tell who the bad guys are. Most people are stricken by fear and dare not speak out against in-justice when it surfaces.

While you are not really asking what I believe and you probably don't really care what I believe, since I'm in the mood I shall tell you. I believe those that are not stricken by fear have a responsibility to speak up in an effort to help curtail the dangerous "above the law" and "I am always right" attitudes which can be so damaging to innocent people caught up in the middle of the war between Police and criminals.

The problem innocent civilians face is that real criminals take active steps to protect themselves from prosecution and police need to work very hard to pin them down whereas the majority of society rely on the foolish blind faith that because they are innocent they will saved from in-justice when in reality it merely leaves them more vulnerable. With innocent civilians naiveity compounded by the efforts needed to pin down real criminals, for the most part real criminals evade justice while the innocent are lambs to the slaughter.

 

[seasoned]

19 posts later and the bottom line is, officer safety first, next, if you have a license for anything, know the law pertaining to that license. "I didn't see the stop sign", will not grant you a free pass. An officer telling you to shut up is an order to obey. Having a loaded firearm on your person and not telling them over the order to shut up is stupid. Stupid anything, can get you, or someone else hurt. The thing that frost me is the fact, there are people carrying guns around, that don't have a clue how, when, and where to use that firearm. Officers are people and people make mistakes. I am not condoning this in any way, but the officers have a job to do, and when stopped for what ever, help them do their job by you helping them to feel as safe as possible. Points back to first sentence, officer safety first. This my friend is as much you're job as it is theirs. Officers screwed up on this stop and acted unprofessional "yes", lessons to be learned from this, "double yes".