How Not To Conduct A Traffic Stop

[Corvus]

Rolling black out is common around here but some do abuse it. I know someone that was written a reckless driving citation for getting too close to a cruiser that was running blacked out. The LE refused to admit he was running blacked out until the 3rd or 4th court date. Until he was finally convinced the driver was going to take it all the way to a trial he tried to stick it to the guy for his being careless. The LE was driving through an industrial park at shift change with his lights off and then went off on the driver for getting too close to his cruiser.

I don't see anything wrong with it if the LE has enough smarts to realize the good guys also can't see them and drive accordingly.

[Mitchell, Esq.]

http://www.cantonrep.com/carousel/x7...s-day-in-court

"I thought it would turn out this way,” is all William E. Bartlett had to say Wednesday afternoon after a judge threw out a concealed carry charge against him that took on a worldwide half-life when the arrest video went viral.

Bartlett’s ex-wife, Deborah Bartlett, stood by his side as he shyly shook hands with a gaggle of demonstrative concealed carry permit well-wishers. “I was behind him all the way,” she said quietly.

A conviction could have sent Bartlett to jail for up to six months.

With that charge out of the way, Bartlett pleaded no contest to a traffic violation — stopping in the roadway — and was fined $150 by Municipal Court Judge Stephen Belden.

Canton police arrested Bartlett, 52, after finding him with a concealed handgun during an early morning incident June 8 on Newton Avenue NW.

The case gained notoriety after Ohioans for Concealed Carry (OCC) posted a police cruiser video of patrolman Daniel Harless berating and threatening Bartlett during the arrest. The video went viral, with more than 800,000 views to date on YouTube.

THE TRIAL

Jurors were shown some of the controversial arrest video but not the portions in which Harless threatened to “cave in” Bartlett’s head and later to execute him for being stupid.

Belden ruled that those portions of the video should not be shown to the jury.

The trial was contentious with Assistant City Prosecutor Jennifer Fitzsimmons and defense attorney Timothy E. Bellew of Girard trading objections and requesting sidebar consultations with Belden.

Fitzsimmons did not call Harless as a witness before resting the state’s case early Wednesday afternoon.

However, Harless’ partner that June night was Patrolman Mark Diels. He was called to testify while the jury watched portions of the video from the 1:38 a.m. traffic stop.

Fitzsimmons elicited repeated responses from Diels that he never heard Bartlett say he had a concealed carry permit and that he was close enough to him not to have missed such a statement.

ONE OFFICER’S VERSION

The cruiser video showed Diels addressing his attention to a passenger in the back seat of the car driven by Bartlett. He said he saw the passenger sliding across the seat and opening the door. Diels said the passenger, not Bartlett, was the clear and present danger at the moment. He handcuffed the passenger and put him in the cruiser, then returned to search the back seat of Bartlett’s car for possible weapons or contraband.

“I was in the back seat,” Diels testified. “He could have told me.”

“I have a gun!” shouted defense attorney Bellew. “Is that the way he should have told you?”

Even the portions of the video the jury did view revealed that within the space of a few minutes, Harless’ verbal assault on Bartlett ramped up exponentially, despite Bartlett’s repeated attempts to inform the officer he was armed.

After the state finished its case, the defense argued that the prosecutor did not meet its legal burden for the weapons charge and asked the judge to throw it out before the defense took its turn. Belden agreed.

What the jury didn’t see was Harless raging, “As soon as I felt your gun, I should have took two steps back, pulled my Glock 40 and just put 10 bullets in your ass and let you drop. And I wouldn’t have lost any sleep. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir, I do,” Bartlett replied, still sounding calm.

Harless was put on administrative leave in June and later went on medical leave. A disciplinary hearing is set for Dec. 1 regarding his actions with Bartlett and two other traffic stops.

REACTION

“I’ll tell you one thing, Chief (Dean) McKimm and the rest should have known about Harless’ PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) issues long before this,” said Ohioans for Concealed Carry member Tim Singo of Perry Township who joined nearly 30 others to watch the proceedings.

Jeff Garvas of Macedonia, the group’s president and founder (ohioccw.org), was among those on hand. Garvas said he was contacted by Bartlett’s attorney, an OCC member. Garvas edited the police video Bellew obtained and posted it on YouTube.

“I think that anyone that watched that video will come to the same conclusion that no law was broken,” he said. “But his civil rights were violated.”

___________________________________

Boo-ya!

[Coyotesfan97]

Rolling black out is common around here but some do abuse it. I know someone that was written a reckless driving citation for getting too close to a cruiser that was running blacked out. The LE refused to admit he was running blacked out until the 3rd or 4th court date. Until he was finally convinced the driver was going to take it all the way to a trial he tried to stick it to the guy for his being careless. The LE was driving through an industrial park at shift change with his lights off and then went off on the driver for getting too close to his cruiser.

I don't see anything wrong with it if the LE has enough smarts to realize the good guys also can't see them and drive accordingly.

If I'm cruising dark it's pretty easy to pull over and let people go by. Having headlights backlighting you defeats the whole purpose.


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[KeeFus]

Thread resurrection: He's been fired and appealing that decision.

[rjohnson4405]

It is unfortunate that Officer Harless suffers from PTSD (assuming that is the truth), however, I believe firing him was the correct action.

On top of that, how did his partner who was with him when he was acting like this not speak up and get him help?

I find it hard to believe that nobody said something about how out of control this guy was. Is it just cops being "loyal" to each other? Canton PD needs to do some house cleaning it seems like.

[TCinVA]

PTSD or not...when one starts threatening to kill members of the public on the side of the road it really doesn't matter exactly why they're doing it. They're not fit for the road anymore.

[Nephrology]

PTSD or not...when one starts threatening to kill members of the public on the side of the road it really doesn't matter exactly why they're doing it. They're not fit for the road anymore.

Yeah, that really crosses a very special line that does not come with any exceptions. I do sympathize with his condition, but as an adult and a professional if you reach that point you need to seek help and recognize that it is your obligation to do so as a responsible enforcer of the law.

[ford.304]

Good on the Canton police department for doing the right thing, even if it did require outside pressure to get it done. Always makes me happy when my cynicism is wrong.

[Shellback]

Update

The city police officer fired for a pattern of verbal abuse and making threats is trying to get his job back.

Patrolman Daniel Harless is proceeding with the arbitration process, said Kristen Bates Aylward, an assistant city law director.

[TCinVA]

It's not unusual for a .gov employee who gets canned...even for cause...to try and fight the decision like this. It goes with the territory. The Supreme Court held that an action like firing a government employee is a government "taking" action, and that involves due process. Thus the need for administrative hearings and appeals processes. Throw in a healthy dose of union negotiated procedures on top of all that and you have situations where getting rid of somebody can take months, even if they're caught doing some truly ridiculous things.