Posted on 01/11/2012 7:34:45 AM PST by TSgt
A city police officer at the center of a controversial traffic stop involving a man with a permit to carry a concealed handgun has been fired.
Bill Adams, president of the Canton Police Patrolmen’s Association, the union that represents Patrolman Daniel Harless, confirmed that city Safety Director Thomas Ream ruled that Harless is no longer a member of the city’s police force.
Ream issued a three-page ruling dated Tuesday.
“It is quite clear that (Harless’) actions represented a pattern of behavior where inappropriate verbal abuse and threats of death or great bodily harm of the various complainants occurred,” Ream wrote.
“This escalating pattern of potentially dangerous behavior cannot be justified or excused and clearly illustrates the seriousness of the departmental infractions.”
Harless plans to appeal the decision, Adams said.
Harless was accused of violating police department rules during the June 8 traffic stop during which police cruiser video shows Harless berating and threatening a man pulled over around 1:30 a.m. on Newton Avenue NW.
Harless unleashed a flurry of profanities at the driver, shouting he should have gunned down the driver, William E. Barlett, for being stupid.
The cruiser video went viral after it captured the attention of Ohioans for Concealed Carry, which posted the video online.
The police department’s internal affairs division launched an investigation, examining Harless’ behavior during the June 8th arrest and two unrelated traffic stops, each captured on a police cruiser dash camera.
In the June 8 stop, he was accused of violating the department’s rules and regulations for cooperation with the public, deportment and treatment of persons in custody. For that, he faced being suspended or fired.
Harless was placed on medical leave and other officers donated their sick days to him when his paid sick-leave time ran out.
The union had asked for an extension for the disciplinary hearing due to Harless being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Obviously, it’s an unfortunate set of circumstances that transpired,” Adams said. “We feel that due to the fact that (Harless) has PTSD, that nobody realized it for eight-plus years, for it to come to light the way it did ... this is not a way we wanted this to play out. PTSD is obviously a disease.”
Adams said that the incident that sparked the disease occurred in 2003 when a suspect nearly bit off Harless’ finger while trying to get the officer’s gun.
“Here’s a guy who was in a life-and-death situation,” Adams said, adding that since the June 8 incident came to light, Harless has been diagnosed several times with PTSD.
“Most people that have a bad day on their job can go home, put their legs up and relax,” Adams said. “We can go home from our jobs in a body bag or with a serious physical injury from the hospital.”
He noted the recent incident in which Officer Tim Marks was brutally attacked by a suspect.
“It affects people in different ways. Unfortunately, (Harless) had PTSD, and it wasn’t realized for eight years. Unfortunately, he was fired, and we will address that situation at a later time.”
depends.are you in a gubmint union ?
Bad cops are only a tiny fraction of any force, and their actions shouldn't impugn the other officers who aren't caught doing anything wrong.
If he got PTSD from a “line-of-duty” incident, and now is mentally incapable of performing his job - he is actually entitled to disablility retirement.
Not advocating, just noting ...
Agreed. It certainly seems pretty clear that is what he is going for.
He went from bully to ‘victim’ pretty quickly after that video was made public.
I think the angle here is going to be lifetime disability pay.....
You’re right. There is no doubt that guy is/was doing steroids. Anyone with an ounce of brains could see that.
Jackboot thugs of this type should be offered no quarter...
If this cop “got” PTSD from some joker biting his finger he is too much of a pussy to be a cop anyways.
I work with a lot of military veterans who have REAL PTSD. Somebody biting their finger wouldn’t have bothered them at all.
So much for the "one bad apple" theory....
We see again the power of viral video. Free information exchange makes it easy to put a spotlight on bad actors.
“we can’t go home in bodybags.”
Who are they kidding? There are jobs far more dangerous than LEO, and most jobs have their occupational hazards. Cops aren’t alone in that. the bodybag line is just and excuse for crappy behavior. Deal with the requirements of your job or quit
I’m not even going to comment what I think of this POS. I’m glad I don’t live in Canton.
If he had PTSD then why did they keep him on active police duty instead of putting him wher he could do no harm.
It’s an excuse. A lame one at best.
Now I have to wonder just how many of the Dallas police are suffering from these kinds of anger problems?
Mr. Harless clearly needs to get a job that does not require any interaction with people...and certainly not a job with any authority..
..sadily, he is going to kill someone someday, IMO. I bet that people who know him absolutely know that he is disturbed, and has been since he was a kid.
Mr. Harless:...get some help...
Perhaps the cop was mentally deficient to begin with. Who knows?
“The cop should be in prison!”
On our dime? REALLY?
I say get ten feet of rope, find a tree and be done with it.
This is one bad cop, and he needed firing. There are many more like him. I was about to type “but not all cops are bad,” as I know several personally. However, what gives me most concern in this story isn’t the bad cop, it’s that his fellow cops were DONATING THEIR OWN OFF TIME to him so he could keep his job while he litigated his termination. To put it in perspective, the term they use for us “citizens” in the same situation is “accomplices.” That makes them just as bad.
Pizza delivery dude?
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