Cop arrested & resigns after confrontation caught on video
At this point in the digital media revolution how can anyone who serves the public not be aware that cameras are everywhere?
How is the lesson not getting though to everyone in public safety that even if you don’t see a camera it’s likely someone is taking video of you and you should act accordingly?
The latest person in uniform to learn these truths the hard way is Sgt. Shawn R. Glans of New York’s Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office. Actually, as of a few hours ago he is Shawn R. Glans, civilian. A civilian who is now facing criminal charges.
Glans is accused of official misconduct and harassment for his actions seen in the viral video above. The video was taken early Friday morning by one of two young men confronted by Glans. It was posted to the sheriff’s office Facebook page around 9:00 Friday night and Glans was immediately suspended without pay by the sheriff. Glans resigned this (Monday) morning and was arrested in the afternoon. Justice can be swift in the digital era.
Glans was investigating a suspicious vehicle with a .22 caliber rifle inside. When the two men who were with that vehicle approached, Glans attempted to get their permission to search the vehicle. When they declined things got nasty and Glans seemed to use bullying to get his way. Here is one news account of the confrontation from WAMC Radio:
Reports indicate Glans approached two men he said walked out of the woods to their vehicle, which was in the parking lot of a business near the Wal-Mart in Halfmoon Friday afternoon. Glans says he noticed a .22-caliber rifle on the back seat and then saw the pair, who were wearing dark clothes and acting suspiciously. The altercation was recorded by one of the two who videoed the encounter.
“We’ll be on our merry way. Understand?”
In the clip, an off-camera slap is heard as Colin Fitch tells Glans he is not resisting arrest. Fitch spoke about the incident with NewsChannel 13: “We were walkin’ around Wal-Mart for about 20 minutes or so, then the two sheriff deputies approached us, they asked us our names, we told them our names.”
Fitch acknowledged Glans inquired about the weapon in his vehicle. “I said yeah, I have do a rifle in my back seat. I use it for target shooting. I don’t hunt or anything.”
Glans, unaware he was being filmed, threatened Fitch’s passenger. “That was intense. You like that, huh? I can get a lot more intense. You gonna slap me around? Yeah, I’ll slap your head off.”
Glans tells the Times Union had he known he was being filmed, he would have behaved differently.
Here is the quote : “I was concerned. It was a public safety issue,” the sergeant said. “If I had to do it all over again … I’d probably do the same thing. If I knew the camera was there, no, because it does look bad.”
Tell me that isn’t the operative sentence in all of this – “If I knew the camera was there, no, because it does look bad.” I think that goes a long way in explaining why Shawn R. Glans is no longer employed by the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office.
