Good Cop Vs. Bad Cop (A Tale Of Two Cops)
Oceanside Police Officer Matt Lyons is receiving well-deserved praise throughout the internet for the way he handled an incident involving a man openly carrying a gun.
As we reported before, it is legal to open carry a firearm in California as long as it is not loaded.
But we’ve also seen that some California officers are prone to force a citizen down on their knees at gunpoint.
Lyons, who spent 22 years in the United States Marine Corps, proved that he could manage professional courtesy while ensuring the gun wasn’t loaded.
He also didn’t have a problem being recorded throughout the procedure.
Lyons obviously takes pride in his profession. In 2006, he published a picture book detailing the history of the Oceanside Police Department.
It can be purchased on Amazon for $15.99. I say we thank Lyons for his professionalism by purchasing his book.
Then there is Canton Police Officer Daniel Harless who is also making the rounds on the internet through a Youtube video. But not in the most positive sense.
Harless was captured on a dash-cam video (below) last month making a traffic stop on a man who was suspected of having picked up a prostitute.
The driver was also legally carrying a concealed weapon.
Ohio law requires concealed weapon holders to immediately notify officers they are carrying a weapon.
But Harless did not even approach the driver of the car for more than six minutes after the stop, choosing to pull out the car’s passengers instead.
Harless’ partner even began searching the car without consent or warrant, which is also questionable.
When Harless finally approaches the driver and orders him out of the car at 6:55, the driver is holding up his concealed weapons permit as if trying to hand it to Harless.
“Why do you keep having that?” Harless asks. “What is this?”
The driver tries to explain that it is a concealed weapons permit, which lights a fuse in Harless.
“Do you have a weapon you?” Harless demands.
“Yes sir, that’s why …”
Harless then completely loses his temper, spending the next several minutes berating and threatening the driver.
“I am so close to caving in your goddamn head,” Harless threatens at 8:52.
“I should have taken two steps back, pulled my Glock 40 and just put ten bullets in your ass and just let you drop,” Harless screams at 13:35.
“And I wouldn’t have lost any sleep.”
“And he would have been a nice witness as I executed you because you’re stupid.”
The driver remains calm throughout the whole process, answering his threats with “yes, sir.”
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.
It's no telling how he would have reacted had the driver tried to videotape him.
Either way, he made an ass out of himself. Especially now that we've seen how a professional cop would handle himself in such a situation.
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Comments
Every cop out there is packing heat, but dare a mere mortal do the same, permitted and unloaded even, the insult to their aauthoritaaay is just too much to take.
Threatens to beat up an unarmed girl.
Threatens to empty his clip in the driver.
Threatens to commit perjury.
Threatens to arrest him on false charges on sight.
Threatens to impound his car on sight.
Oh what fun!
Ossifer Harless and his one man campaign against prostitution. One headshot at a time...
Silly peon. Don't you know that your life is worthless compared to Officer Daniel Harless'?
The driver clearly tried to tell him about his concealed carry, and was told to shut up.
At least the piece of crap admitted that he could execute him and get away with it because his cop buddy would lie for him.
Oh and bravo on the social justice too. Any suspected "hoors" come around here again, and he'll put some lumps on them.
This piece of crap is a thug, bully and a sadist. He apparently likes to beat women too. He should never be a police officer again, much less in any kind of position of responsibility. I wouldn't even trust him as assistant manager on the night shift at Jack-in-the-Box.
I carry concealed legally. While I am rarely stopped the very first thing I do when I am is tell the officer that I have a weapon with me. It also tends to change the dynamic of the conversation. Never had a cop react like Harless. Have to hope he will not be an LEO much longer.
I can't believe I just read what I did.., ie:
"The first thing I do is tell the officer I have a weapon on me..!!"
And then in the next sentence you stated.. "It also tends to change the dynamic of the conversation."
Yeah.. I can believe that!! (LROTF emoticon)
I can see it now. A cop pulls you over and when the cops at your drivers rolled down window you say..
"I have a weapon on me!"
If I was that cop when you said that, you'd find the barrel of my service weapon stuck in your left ear.. if not yanked out of your vehicle and laid prone on the ground. How stupid can you get?
The correct procedure is to either keep both hands on the steering wheel (or stick them out the window) and when the LEO is at the window say something to the effect of..
"Officer. I'm a legally licensed concealed carry holder. My firearm is located (stating where ever it is). How would you like me to proceed?
I hope to God you never get pulled over and start off your conversation with the wrong "Badge Bully" cop like you've indicated above because like you said..
"It also tends to change the dynamic of the conversation."
Yep.. Sure does. Real quick.
Rail Car Fan
You're a toolbag Rail. Cops are taking time out of my busy day by pulling me over for arbitrary laws. You're damn right I'll carry my unregistered firearm on me, concealed, but most certainly loaded. Call it leverage in case the oinker starts to get out of line. Nobody touches my family without permission. Don't care what line of crap he feeds me about this or that. I pay your salary, I've got nothing to hide, you work for me, copper. I'll come to YOU if I have a problem.
I've been handcuffed enough to know it's just a power play, has nothing to do with keeping the peace, and you're damn straight I never got down on my knees or stomach each and every one of those times because nobody takes away my pride but me. I hope your by-the-letter rule following gets you shot and tazed anyway you sheep piece of crap.
You say, "I'll carry my unregistered firearm on me, concealed"
Then you say, "I've got nothing to hide"
Can you say 'contradiction?'
And can you make sure someone is standing by with a really good videocam when you pull out your 'leverage' because the world is short of a good quality suicide-by-cop video.
Harless is a toad. I would prefer to praise the courtesy and professionalism of officer Lyons.
Damn it, Officer Lyons is a model of which every cop should be! He needs cop of the year award! Great guy not an easy job to do but his professionalism great! Everyone vote for Officer. Lyons! The model cop! I`m from Pa and have been stopped by the police and I had my license, some where professional and some where just jackasses! However, I carry all the time as my right he did his job great! God Bless Officer Lyons from the Oceanside Police Department. If every city had cops like that think even crime would go down! He made one feel like everyone should feel! Without a problem!
As I mention in the youtube video, Lyons is truly a pro. I've seen him a couple of incidents in my park.
There really ought to be a minimum penis size requirement for law enforcement. Officer Havless clearly spends too much time in the weightroom trying to overcompensate for a lack of something either upstairs or downstairs. The driver probably got the impression that speaking without being told to could result in a bullet in his head. Any jury would understand his reluctance to speak and choose instead to remain as still and quiet as a mouse until it was his turn to be abused by this sadistic piece of government approved human excrement.
God complex again come to the surface they should also discipline his partner for not telling him to shut up. They dont worry about the camera because their buddies will cover for them most of the time. Again cops show their IQ. True blue apes.notice the officer lyons didnt have a partner probably because he wont lie for them.
I Refuse to comment on mister dick head However OFFICER LYONS Great Job my man thats the way COPS SHOULD ACT......... Thank you for doing your job while staying COOL..
Check him for steroids. Clearly a case of roid rage here.
I think you've nailed it. Cops should be randomly tested every few months for steroids. They can fry the brain.
I've seen Western Australian cops going ape on steroids a few times, and I think this is the likely cause. Also you have a clear case of puny dick syndrome, Harless is reacting to the realisation he was not as totally in control and the alpha male as he had been imagining until the moment he was told his "victims" were not as helpless as he had believed. Classic bully, and like them all with a huge chip on his shoulder.
Very common in Western Australia where abuse of steroids goes with a generally poor standard of human who would be attracted to the job in the first place.
Officer Lyons appears to be a true professional. He does try a couple tricks to get the guys name but that is understandable, and the guy doesn't back down. You can tell he was nervous (the guy, not the cop), I did like the part where he had the officer re-holster the weapon for him, thought that was a nice touch.
I'm trying to find contact information for the Chief of Police there in Oceanside, I think he needs to hear what a good job his officer did in this case and how professional he was.
If most officers were like him then I doubt this blog would even exist. He could teach fellow officers a thing or two.
Onto Officer Harless, "I am so close to caving in your goddamn head", then goes onto state "I should have taken two steps back, pulled my Glock 40 and just put ten bullets in your ass and just let you drop". He should have been shot in the head right then, sorry, but that is my feeling. He threatened the life of the gent and was armed and completely out of control and certainly capable of carrying out the threat, classic self-defense. *NO* reasonable person would feel safe in this case.
His partner or backup or whatever needs to be reprimanded as well for doing NOTHING to stop this, he could easily have explained away a minute or maybe two, but over FIVE, dude get a sack. He could probably be salvaged, Harness though, should get jail time.
I hope this guys takes the PD and this cop for a million and forces them to accept wrongdoing..
According to the attorney
All true folks. The case is actually about a month old. I've been waiting to verify what I was told before posting anything, because I had a hard time believing it too. But, I watched it all. At the first pretrial, the prosecutor offered to dismiss all charges for a release of liability (promise they wouldnt be sued). I refused their offer. My guy is a mild-mannered 50 some year old man, not some younger mouthy stud.
http://ohioccwforums.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=53994#p4005179
I am no legal eagle but why does the city prosecutor make deals for release of liability?
I agree Officer Lyons did the right thing in the right way.
If only there were more cops like Officer Lyons and none like Harless, who's basically just a thug with a badge.
The first officer handled it very well. Notice that the guy with the camera handled it well too. He didn't yell at the officer, insult him, or refuse to cooperate with lawful commands. It helps when both parties are calm. Right Pixie?
The second video is bad bad bad. The driver should have said something to the officer when he was searching the back seat but it's obvious he was nervous and the other officer was completely unprofessional. I hope he gets slammed for his behavior.
"The driver should have said something to the officer when he was searching the back seat but it's obvious he was nervous"
I don't think I can go along with this, he'd already been told to shut up. And not much later you have an officer that wasn't just being unprofessional but was is a rage and bordering on a loss of control. I would say he did what he needed to do to survive. I think any reasonable person would be wondering what new atrocity was going to be committed and just praying to survive. I would feel my life was in danger.
yeah but the rage didn't kick in until afterwards. No reason why he didn't simply look back and tell the officer about the permit
Then the driver would be refusing to cooperate with lawful commands.
If the officer had any concern for his on safety he would not have legally searched the vehicle with the driver still in it.
"Shut up" is not a lawful command.
Look, the officer screwed up. No doubt about it. No excuse for his reaction. I'm just saying it would have been an easy thing for the driver to say it while the second officer was searching.
And you are right that the officer should not have been searching the back of the vehicle while the driver was in the front seat. That's horrible tactics.
"Shut up" is a lawful command. There is no unlawful command that a police officer gives. The law has made it impossible to defy any command given by law enforcement. The case law is clear that the suspect doesn't have the right to determine what is or is not a lawful command. They are required to obey, without question. Most states don't even allow you to resist force or violence done to you by the police, for "officer safety." Even if you are injured, the courts have repeatedly stated that you can deal with your injuries in a civil suit. The Indiana Supreme Court just held that a citizen doesn't even have the right to resist an unlawful entry into his home. Again, the reasoning of the court (stupid as it is) was that the lowly citizens don't get to decide what is lawful.
The courts have routinely sent the same message over and over - "Shut up and obey."
So when this citizen does exactly what the cop says, he is following a lawful command.
If he continued to try and talk, I can see this officer pulling out his taser and making the guy ride the lightning.
So if I tell you to hop up and down on one leg while tooting on a kazoo, that is a lawful order?
Interesting.
Please bark like a dog to the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies.
It's a lawful order so do it.
You're a ASS.. you know that "JL"..!!..?
You know very well what happens with a "Badge Bully" cop when you don't. Every time you seem to open your mouth (post here) you lose any respect I might have had for you.. and that's pretty hard, considering I have none for you what so ever!
Rail Car Fan
Weird reaction from the cop there. He obviously has some serious anger issues.
The one time I got pulled over and I was CC, I gave the officer the permit with the drivers license, he kind of just grunted at me and approved that I notified him up front, it was a fairly positive encounter overall. At first he was more interested in the alleged speeding but he saw the used target disks in the back seat of my car and commented that I looked to be a reasonable shot, but commented on the shot groupings.... I just replied, "Yeah, I am trying to workout some bad habits there..." He then just ended up talking shop and "toys" and gave me a warning, and pointers...
A tale of two cities. One cop is obviously as professional and respectful as you would hope a LEO could be. The second POS deserves to lose his badge for the cowboy act. I wondered if he had an erection the whole time?
I wonder if Bad Cop is related to that military commander in the movie "Avatar"?
Amazing that that dash-cam video didn't somehow 'magically disappear'.
the guy was a JOHN with a gun in the eyes of that dick weed, that was the problem. JL can say any shit he wants. doesnt change that fact.
this SOB had to be a JOHN, the pimp and his whore was there, wtf! even if he was trying to get some head or whatever. who gives a shit, i sure dont.
this idiot needs to lose his j-o-b as a LEO and go to prison for a few years for pulling that shit! the suspect was told to shutup, only JL would have said, oh by the way. just turn around to the officer in my car, illegally, and tell him i have a GUN! fuck, sounds like a great idea to me!
I am so waiting patiently for the next brilliant thing JL has to say, i can hardly fucking wait!
@Oceanside Police Officer Matt Lyons:
your a great example of a human being and an Officer, your the type of officer i remember when growing up and wonder why sometimes there aint more of you around, and of course on PD's..etc. across the nation. A video like this should be required to be seen by every LEO in this great nation so that they could learn by example.
thank you again!
Who is doing that?
There will always be one, and it will be one of the scumbags too. Who else is going to defend these lowlifes with toxic personality issues?
I am sick of seeing this arrogant little tit JL, with his mealy mouthed crap. The prick writes as if rotten, corrupt and thug cops were rare or something. He writes like a thug cop, they all think they have it right. The self righteous tone which assumes the moral high ground and enforces it without stricture is often expressed with the same mindless pedantry.
Such an angry little man. And with such poor reading comprehension as well. I never defended the officer in the second video. In fact, I seem to recall that I spoke out against it.
I guess when you are so angry, you just see what you want to see.
Canton Police Officer Daniel Harless is a hoot!
Having lived in and around the Canton (Ohio) area for over 40 years!! This is no surprise, I avoid downtown like the plague. . However a couple of years ago even the county Sheriff was involved in a very interesting problem that ended in a lawsuit. .
Now I'm not saying there aren't good policemen. . I know some, as well a deputies, but it's the mindset that has to be changed. . The delusions of Godhood need to be quelled.
However I doubt much will happen to officer Harless. . It's the old "protect your own" situation.
This moron keeps on saying "stupid" yet he knows he is being recorded by his dash-cam. Stupid is as stupid does. If I was this victim I would sue the shit out of this police department, you can't have officers threatening the citizens. A death threat is a death treat even if it is coming from an officer. If you sheeple don't realize who the real enemy of this country is... you are all in big trouble.
Officer Lyons is truly one of the "Good Guys"!! A role model and inspiration for all in law enforcement!!
Write to officer Lyons:
P.O. Matt Lyons
Oceanside Police Dept.
3855 Mission Ave.
Oceanside CA. 92054
His Supervisor is Sgt. Cosby. It would be nice to write a second letter of commendation to him also. Don't know his first name, but if you address it as Sgt. Cosby, to the same address, he should get it. God bless you all and God bless America!!
JL is the reason why you need a civilian oversite review board. they ARE NOT worthy to police themselves. and i wonder when it comes to saving money that they will stop supporting these thugs get them off the payroll. definate liability and huge cost to the taxpayers. sent the mayor a email and he sent standard reply it is being investigated and wil be dealt with. meaning paid vacation.
I need duct tape to hold my jaw closed, once in absolute aww of Lyons and once in shock of Harless.
Harless need to be locked up in a room and Lyons tape played in a loop for 6 months.
jay, I agree with you 100%. In fact, people like Johnny Law underscore the reason our Founding Fathers put civilians in charge of the military and not the other way around. Not to disparage out military (or which I am a veteran) but as was explained to me on the first day of boot camp they are there to preserve Democracy, not practice it. Civilian Oversight Boards actually produce better police and better police work by reminding everyone that the police "serve and protect" the community, and the community does not exist as targets for abuse of authority.
Sadly, these abuses should be treated more harshly than they usually are. This officer did something for which a civilian would be arrested and detained.
The people of Canton have started a Facebook page demanding the removal of this cop.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Canton-Residents-who-demand-the-immediate-dismissal-of-Daniel-Harless/203933349655186?sk=wall
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