You’ve got serious problems when you hope to get a photo of a police officer getting injured.
Here we go again, folks.
Um. Yeah. Nobody in public safety likes Leonard Harville because he has no ethics nor morals when it comes to reporting. He’s got no problem doing things like posting photos on Facebook that identify car accident victims before their families are notified.
But I’ve got a serious problem with this quote from his RIDICULOUS SHOUTING RANT ABOUT HIM BEING TREATED UNFAIRLY…
BUT I WILL GET MY MONEY SHOT ONE DAY WHEN I WATCH THEM HARRASS THE WRONG PERSON AND BE PUT DOWN IN PUBLIC. IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED ON BRADLEY ROAD AND WILL HAPPEN AGAIN.
What the (CENSORED)? This sociopathic asswipe wants to take a photo of a police officer being injured? How farkin’ low of a human being do you have to be to want to see a police officer getting hurt? Do you think I would enjoy taking photos of Leonard’s scooter embedded in the grill of a Peterbilt going down Route 29 at 65 MPH? Ok, smartasses. The answer to that question is “No”. Sheesh.
To get respect from public safety personnel, you have to also give respect. That’s the way the world works. With that statement, Leonard has lost what little respect that anybody in public safety had for him. Technically, I’m obliged to point out that you can’t go below diddlysquat.
If Leonard truly believes that his civil rights are being violated then he can file a lawsuit against the City of Danville. You know, just like he threatened to sue me (which has never happened, by the way).
But wait, there’s more! One of his “friends” asks a relevant question.
Honestly, I got nothin’ on that reply. Nothin’. Nothin’ at all. By the way, Leonard’s hatred for Star News and their reporting lasted about eleven hours because he shared a Star News Facebook story about another house fire.
Hatin’ on them one night, lovin’ their stuff the next morning. That’s Our Leonard.
How dare you Hedric, I commend Leonard, Bruce . He doesn’t let silly things like accuracy, Ethics, and actual knowledge of journalism screw up his arguements. I’m not sure which will happen first , his “money shot” or the Confederate treasure actually being found, but at least it’s entertainment.
Can that post he made concerning getting his “money shot” be considered a threat? He is socially retarded. He really is purely only valuable for entertainment. He never did answer the credential question though, other than to throw a tantrum at the notion of being asked about it.
No. It doesn’t rise to the definition of a “threat”. Danville public safety doesn’t issue credentials. It’s an honor system based on ethics and respect.
Oh my. As Bruce just pointed out in a different way over on the FB part of our local information family, I am among the few who probably interact with the police more than Mr. Harville does. I have my brushes with them, too. I will say that I have found that 99% of the time with 99% of the officers, there is a mutual respect that is there even when things get tense or adversarial. It’s pretty clear that this mutual respect has some issues in the case of he and the law enforcement community.
He has rights. It doesn’t seem to me that anybody in the above story crossed a line at the scene. That’s good. I also think it’s clear he felt hassled. The police hassle people. Sometimes it’s necessary. Sometimes it is completely gratuitous and avoidable. Sometimes it didn’t need to happen and is just a function of one officer not knowing for sure what another is doing (even if they’re both in close proximity — sometimes things get chaotic at a newsworthy event). I would like to hope Mr. Harville does not want a “money shot” of a hurt or dead officer, just as I would hope nobody in public safety would want to see him get too close and get a good scare even though I know I’ve heard things first and second hand where people have blown off steam about him that way. Sometimes people say dumb stuff in frustration or anger. I hope that’s what this is.
He can’t have it both ways – claiming to be a journalist, yet not following any of the established tenets of journalism. I am certainly a firm believer in First Amendment rights, etc., but he belittles those rights when he uses them as an excuse for being excluded or “picked on”. Based on the comments he makes on his page, he shows no respect to law enforcement/firefighters/EMTs. Why should HE expect any? What has he done to deserve it?
He has free speech rights whether or not he is accepted by anyone other than himself as a “journalist”. It isn’t a licensed profession. To many, William Randolph Hurst and his cadre were not journalists. To many, Woodward and Bernstein weren’t journalists. This isn’t at all to say that people should love Mr. Harville…or hate him. It’s just to say that your artificial construct that he has to follow some norm isn’t really valid.
I just wish someone would fix his caps lock key.
Why doesn’t Leonard simply purchase a zoom lens? 200mm will bring him visually closer to the action while keeping the safe distances established by emergency personnel.
I think the issues with emergency personnel aren’t nearly as much about where he stands as what he does with the information. He pushes past where anyone else in the community would. That’s the primary source of the friction, I think.
I questioned him one time on one of his statements and he blocked me….which is fine and dandy with me. I don’t need jerks for friends on fb.
A couple of things about this rant have me puzzled. When he talks about the “money shot”, I wonder how much money we are talking about, and who pays him for said photos? In addition I wonder if Mr Harville knows the difference in there, their, and they’re. Which journalism school does not teach the difference?
WBTM used to pay him for photos. I don’t know if they still do.
I doubt he has a DSLR camera body much less the $$$ for a good 200mm lens…keep in mind, he and brother live with mother still.