LEO Notification Reform Long Overdue

[MP_OHIO]

LEO Notification Reform Long Overdue

LEO Notification Reform Long Overdue

Written by Jeff Garvas

Wednesday, 18 January 2012 22:22

This summer a man was arrested, threatened with execution while handcuffed in the back of a cruiser, and then forced to deal with the real life tragedy of having to go through a criminal trial for something he shouldn't have been charged with in the first place. William Bartlett spent the next four months of his life having a prosecutor dangle sweetheart deals in front of him that always came with a catch: Plea to this and we'll drop the more serious charges. Sign a waiver that releases the city from any culpability or legal liability and we'll make this go away. Bartlett stood his ground and refused. Ohioans For Concealed Carry became involved and learned that there was dash camera footage that was horrific to say the least. If you've never seen that video stop reading this right now and . That video became internationally viral. Every major news station in the Cleveland market ran pieces of our edited video and the pressure on Canton was substantial. As the days went on other "victims" of the officer came out and the news media started requesting back dated copies of dash camera footage, eventually leading to a disciplinary hearing and the subsequent firing of Officer Daniel Harless. Canton Municipal Court Judge Stephen Belden dismissed the charged against Bartlett shortly after the prosecution had rested it's case and the defense made a motion to dismiss. Sadly, the news media simply never covered how this could have been prevented. Ohio Law requires that a person who is lawfully armed and carrying a concealed handgun must "promptly" inform a police officer upon their approach. Failure to comply with this law is a crime, but the law makes no effort to define what "promptly" is. In fact, Beachwood police arrested a man because he was unable to interrupt the officer and convey that he was armed in under fifty five seconds. The fact that both of these men were making a concerted effort to notify and hide absolutely nothing was irrelevant until they went to court. Both cases were prosecuted, and both were defended by the same attorney Timothy Bellew, Esq. This is one of many knee jerk changes to Ohio's concealed carry law that were adopted to get parties on board to pass it almost a decade ago. The concept is that by forcing a good person to tell a police officer that they're armed somehow improved officer safety, but the reality is that this is absurd. Police officers are trained to assume everyone is armed. Telling the "good guys" to openly admit that they're armed is foolish because we know a bad person won't admit they're armed, and in a worst case scenario officers could become lax in their awareness. In fact, by passing a law that says you must notify the police we've created a staggering amount of police officers who believe you must notify the police that you're a concealed handgun licensee - even if you're not in possession of a firearm at the time that they interact with you. What this bill does is simple: It eliminates a criminal charge ripe for abuse where the officer has discretion in determining if you met his or her definition of the term "promptly" that particular day. It removes the statutory obligation to notify at any time, as well as a criminal penalty. It removed the "hands in plain sight" requirements since a police officer could simply say your hands were not visible, which results in the same criminal charges. In our country we presume that you have the right to remain silent and the right to not incriminate yourself. Ohio's concealed carry law mandates that you must verbally state something unlike any other law. If MADD proposed that everyone must tell a police officer just how many drinks they've had "promptly" the ACLU would be up in arms -- yet we accept this with being armed under the guise of officer safety. Under the current law in Ohio if you're pulled over and state "Officer I am licensed and I have a firearm" and later realize you left your wallet at home you've just admitted to a crime. If you realize you forgot your wallet and choose not to say that you're armed, you've committed a crime with a similar penalty. This clearly is a fifth amendment violation. What this bill does not do: It does not prohibit or prevent an officer from asking anyone if they're armed or have firearms in the vehicle. It does not preclude an armed individual from the obligation to answer police officer questions truthfully (or choose to remain silent) It does not preclude the occupant of a vehicle from having to obey lawful police orders such as "keep your hands where I can see them" It does not prohibit a concealed handgun licensee to say, at any time they wish, that there is a firearm in their vehicle or on their person. HOW YOU COME IN: Representative Ron Maag has taken over the job of spear heading our legislation in the Ohio House and has set a deadline for co-sponsors to join this bill for THIS FRIDAY at the end of the business day. You need to immediately call your Representatives and politely ask them to become co-sponsors of Representative Maag's Law Enforcement Notification Reform Bill before the end of Friday. Since many law makers leave Columbus on Thursday after their committments are met and return to their districts its important that you make this call right now and leave a message on their voicemail if you must. Follow these simple steps: 1. Go to http://legislature.state.oh.us 2. On the right under "Locating Legislators" choose Zip code and enter your zip. 3. dentify Your Represenative and their phone number (do not email them!) Determine if your Representative has already committed to co-sponsor this legislation: If your representative is Blair, Boose, John Adams, Johnson, Uecker, Watchmann only THANK them for their support, they've already committed to co-sponsor this bill. For any other represenative call (do not email) their published office phone number right now, and: * If you reach them off hours leave a polite voicemail indicating who you are, that you're a constituent, and that you are asking Representative XYZ to co-sponsor Representative Maag's Law Enforcement Notification Reform Bill before the end of Friday. Tell them that OFCC has written a story on it's website OhioCCW.org explaining the purpose of the legislation. * If you reach a person politely introduce yourself and ask if you may speak to Representative XYZ about a piece of legislation you would like them to co-sponsor before Friday. Some offices and some legislative aides will allow you to speak to the representative directly, others may ask if they can take a message. Do not hang up without expressing what you want your representative to do, and then if you get a call back explain why you want your representative to co-sponsor this bill. Tell them that OFCC has written a story on it's website OhioCCW.org explaining the purpose of the legislation. Remember - You might be the only person who reads this alert and makes a call to the representative in your specific district, so its imperative that everyone reading this do this. Do not assume someone else is calling and you'll be fine, PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL. Remember - Ohioans For Concealed Carry is funded by the dollars and donations of people like you. We are an entirely volunteer work force and we have expenses to run the organization. Tax return time is upon us and some of our more fortunate supporters are likely expecting sizable returns.

[JSandi]

You know... I'm all about officer safety n stuff, until it begins to trample on law abiding citizens rights...

I know many other cops can't understand this and look at me funny when I tell them how I feel, but I volunteered for this job and no one is forcing me to stay...

[Alpha-17]

WTF...... I had heard of this before, but that was the first time I'd seen the video. Holy cow. That's plum freaking ridiculous. Good thing the driver had the sense to keep calm, I know plenty of people, myself included, that would have launched back at that "officer", using the term loosely in this case. I've heard some cops ask why there appears to be an "us vs them" mentality with citizens. Well, the problem starts right there with a-holes like this guy.

[JSandi]

And this wasn't this cops first roadside tirade aimed at a lawfully carrying gun owner... the news media dug up one or two other videos of this guy going ballistic

[shopsmart]

Can't wait for that notification to go away... maybe we can hope for magazine fixing in OH... in a few years or so. We seem to get things fixed one year at a time.