Canton council president defends police department after traffic stop video goes viral

CANTON, Ohio - Canton's city council president lashed out at people who blasted the police department over a traffic stop video involving a man with a concealed weapon permit.

The police dash cam video showed Patrolman Daniel Harless yelling obscenities and threatening to kill driver William Bartlett for being "a stupid human being" after he pulled him over in an area known for prostitution and drug deals at 1:40 a.m. on June 8.

According to the Canton Repository , Canton City Council President Allen Schulman spoke at a meeting Monday night, and said he's received more than 100 e-mails about the incident.  Schulman also criticized Ohio's CCW law, but never specifically commented on the patrolman's behavior.

On Tuesday, Schulman told NewsChannel 5 that he wasn't defending Officer Harless, but believes Ohio's CCW law makes officers' jobs even more stressful.

"Their job is magnified now.  The difficulty of their job is magnified because now every time they approach someone, they have to assume the person is armed," Schulman said.

"As soon as I saw your gun, I should have taken two steps back, pulled my Glock .40 and put 10 bullets in your (expletive) and and just let you drop," said Harless on the video gone viral.

Chief Dean McKimm earlier issued a statement which read: "The behavior demonstrated on the video is wholly unacceptable and it violates many rules, regulations and standards we demand of our officers."

Harless has been on paid administrative leave since June 20.

Bartlett has a concealed carry permit.

The incident remains under investigation.