Monday, January 19, 2015

Statement Analysis: Shawn R. Glans Slaps Driver

Last month, a now former police officer in Upstate New York had a court date on an assault charge.

In November of 2014 Sgt. Shawn R. Glans  was put on unpaid leave following the incident in which he is alleged to have slapped the driver. He was a police officer for 27 years.  In a time where law enforcement is being unfairly portrayed as racist and lawless, such an incident, particularly when it goes viral, makes it difficult for the well trained professionals in law enforcement to maintain their well earned reputations.

This officer became disrespectful and threatening and eventually we can hear the slapping of the young driver.

The important question to ask, for public safety, is if this is who he is, or was this a deviation from his  personality; that is, someone who is acting under extraordinary fear or threat, for example.  Since he will carry a lethal weapon, it is important to know his mindset.


Statement Analysis gets to the truth.


Simply asking us about the chance to take something back lets people know what we think of our mistakes. We all have done things we regret, and if given the chance, would act differently.


He was asked if he could do it all over again, would he?  He did not know he was being video taped when we hear the slapping sound.

This is the Expected in Statement Analysis.

I expect him to say, "I am sorry. If I could do it all over again, I would not have done it" along with, perhaps, a contextual portrait such as "there was a .22 in the back seat" or "I was stressed..." or something that tells us:

1.  I would not do this again
2.  The circumstances were extraordinary; it is not my habit.

Statement Analysis deals with the unexpected.  By putting up the "Expected", we set ourselves up for a "confrontation" with that which we did not expect to hear.

The following statement is an example of the Free Editing Process.  He speaks his words freely, without pause.  This is where we teach investigators:  let the subject's own words guide you:  DO NOT interpret.



"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."

1.  "I was concerned" begins with a pronoun, which is strong, but then, instead of saying what he was concerned with, he uses additional wording, making it important to him:

2.  "It was a public safety issue."  This is a passive statement.  He does not say "I was concerned because this was a safety issue" but shows a disjointedness between the two sentences.  The "law of economy" indicates that the shortest route is best.  

3.  It was a "public" safety issue; is not to say that he was afraid or that it was a safety issue for him (more expected) or the other drivers in the car.  That he specifics what the safety issue is, while disconnecting it from himself should cause readers to question if he is telling the truth. 

He may want us to interpret that he acted (slap) for the safety of the public, but it is not what he has said.  

4.  "I'd probably do the same thing" is not expected.  "Probably" is not strong.  What has caused this to enter his speech?  It may be:

5.  The presence of the video camera:  "If I knew the camera was there, no" tells us that he would not do it again, only if he knew a camera was on him, but he is not finished yet:

6.  "because" seeks to show why he did something.  This is sensitive, as it shows us a need to explain. 

He feels a need to explain:  "because" of his reason: 

"it looks bad" instead of "it was bad" or "it was wrong" or "it was not appropriate" or any signal of remorse.  

I sometimes ask parents if they would feel any increase in risk if they thought this person was pulling over their own son or daughter in a traffic stop.  

In this case, it appears that police administration understood that the subject does not have remorse over his actions and his words reveal not only that he did not consider it inappropriate or an over-reaction, but that he only regrets being caught by the camera.  

His attitude can, unjustly and unfairly, portray law enforcement en masse in an unfavorable light.  He was arrested when the video was published.  

His attorney's statement is interesting as well:


 Glans' attorney, Matthew Chauvin of Clifton Park, said he didn't know if Glans was informed of the criminal charges against him before he resigned. Note the immediate change of pronoun in the statement.  
"The video is difficult to place in the context of the person we know," Chauvin said. "I hope the 20-plus years he's put into the community doesn't go unnoticed," he said adding, "There are two sides to every story."
Note he is a "person" in which the pronoun "we" is used, denoting weakness as it is followed with his attorney's stronger use of pronouns, with "I hope" regarding the career.  This is to indicate that the attorney does not feel strong enough to vouch for the character of the officer, but feels appropriate to have hope for the "20 plus years" of the officer's career.  

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Blatant abuse of power over another. What is the back story? What had the young man done? He has a friend with a camera? Did he slap the young man in the face?

The cop's wording and behavior are so abusive.

GetThem said...

Shawn Glan's statement was concerning in many ways as you noted Peter. The only public "safety issue" was this officer's actions.

His lawyer's response was also weak as you pointed out. I did not like his comment that there are "two sides to every story." That was a fishing expedition type of comment -- hoping that casting that out might make people assume more to the story than what was on camera and in the Glan's own story.

It would be interesting to know if he had a history over his 20 years of service with similar incidents, or if he was burnt out by the time this happened... and if that was the case, why none of his peers noticed anything is odd.

Anonymous said...

Im confused. The Pope was just in our country & a friend sent me an email (we were emailing back & forth & the last email I sent I asked her if she has someone to go with to see the pope - I declined because I had gone to see the Pope but said I only saw the roof of his Popemobile, I was being invited to go with her, it was raining & the large crowd discouraged me so I said no) She emailed back & started with a "Thank you." & that she was able to have someone with her, and then she said "Saw Pope." and after that she started with a pronoun "I" and recounting that she "catched a cold" the previous night and she has running nose, cough & "hopefully not flu." I wondered why she didnt say if both of them - she & her companion saw the Pope. But she texted another friend where she said in our local language that "I saw the Pope" with details such as 'he was 1 yard away'. Why the absence of pronoun in her email to me & the presence of pronoun in another message to another friend?

Tania Cadogan said...

off topic

A homeless woman has come forward to add more confusion to the Robert Allenby saga, claiming she discovered the Australian golfer just one block away from the bar he says he was abducted from in Hawaii - not 10km away as he said immediately after the ordeal.

Allenby said he was thrown in the boot of a car and woke up in a park on Sunday morning some 10km away from the Amuse Wine Bar in Honolulu where he had been drinking with friends before he was attacked.

But the unnamed woman, who has spoken with police, told Channel Nine News that she stumbled across a 'bloodied and confused' Allenby in a park just a block away where he was arguing with two homeless men.

She alleged Allenby asked her to use his one remaining credit card to withdraw $500 so he could pay the two men to give him back his wallet.

The woman told Nine News the men started to become 'quite aggressive' before a man, described as a former soldier, intervened and helped Allenby into a cab back to his hotel.

It comes as Honolulu police reviewed CCTV footage from the wine bar showing Allenby leaving with two men and a woman before he was attacked.

Police also have footage of a suspect using Allenby's credit card in Waikiki to purchase two bottles of alcohol, according to Channel Nine.

Allenby had been having dinner and drinks with friends, including his caddie Mick Middlemo, who says there's 'no doubt' the golfer's drink had been spiked, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Middlemo said he left the bar at 10.30pm and Allenby wasn't 'hammered'. The golfer paid a drink bill at 10.48pm and then went to the toilet.

'Later (on CCTV) you can see him come out of the bathroom looking like he's had 400 drinks. He didn't get that drunk in 20 minutes,' Middlemo said.

The pair had been dining with friend Anthony Puntoriero and another person.

Punteriero called Middlemo after noticing the golfer was missing about 11pm - the pair thought he had just gone back to the hotel room.

CCTV footage showed Allenby leaving with two men and a woman before he says he was bashed and knocked unconscious.

Allenby only remembers paying the bill and coming out of the bathroom where he was notified Puntoriero had already gone downstairs.

He said he had no recollection of his time spent in the boot as he had been knocked unconscious.

The Australian golfer has compared his experience with the action film Taken.

'I've watched Taken quite a few times. It kind of felt pretty much the same as that. Just very surreal, yeah,' he said.

The thriller flick features Liam Neeson playing a former spy who is trying to track down his biological daughter, who has been sold into sex slavery.

In an interview with the Seven Network on Monday morning, a battered and bruised Robert Allenby said the FBI are investigating the alleged incident.

But the FBI denies that.

'The FBI is not investigating this matter whatsoever,' FBI Special Agent Tom Simon told Daily Mail Australia on Monday morning.

'A little bit of an American civics lesson - the FBI could only investigate a kidnapping if the victim was transferred interstate.'

But Mr Simon said he did not believe Allenby was lying about FBI involvement.

'I don't believe the golfer was lying. Here's what the confusion arose from.

'The head of security for the PGA in Hawaii who I believe spoke to the alleged victim is a retired FBI special agent.

Tania Cadogan said...

'So I believe it was from that conversation that the golfer came to the erroneous but not illogical conclusion the FBI was looking into this field.

The four-time PGA Tour winner paid special tribute to the homeless woman who helped him as he was starting to be harassed by other homeless people after being dumped out of the car.

The homeless woman got the bruised and beaten golfer away from the others, before a retired military officer also came to his aid.

'I was very fortunate, a homeless lady pretty much saved my life,' Allenby said.

Scans have cleared Allenby of any serious facial or head injuries and he is hopeful of being cleared to fly in the next day or two.

He doesn't yet know when he'll next hit the golf course.

'The chances of me playing next week are very slim, but I'm just taking it one day at a time.'

'Medically, I thankfully didn't suffer anything major beyond some bumps and bruises that will take a bit of time to heal,' Allenby said in a statement released by the PGA Tour on Sunday.

'My plan currently is to fly back to the mainland and at that point, evaluate my ability to play next week at the Humana Challenge.

'Whatever the outcome regarding my ability to play next week, I anticipate a successful rest of the 2014-15 PGA Tour season.'

Allenby has noticeable damage and lacerations to his nose and forehead. He has told reporters the FBI and local police have some leads.

'We have some names and numbers and they have some leads to follow up, so I am confident they will get the guys,' Allenby said.

'With the FBI guys involved, they're the best, the guys on the tour are awesome, and they'll get to the bottom of it.'

Allenby was most concerned about potentially not being able to call 13-year-old daughter Lily for her birthday, but scans have cleared him of any serious facial or head injuries and he is hopeful of being cleared to fly in the next day or two.

'She's really upset about it but at the end of the day it could have been a lot worse,' the Victorian said.

'I don't care about the money or my cards or anything like that. I am just glad I have survived this one.'

After the incident, the Australian golfer was then returned to the Kahala Hotel where he had spent the week while playing at the Sony Open held at the nearby Waialae Country Club - where Allenby failed to make the cut after the first two days of play.

His friend Anthony Puntoriero - who was with Allenby earlier on the night - confirmed he was kidnapped.

'He's all right now but we are still talking to detectives,' Puntoriero told AAP.

Allenby was set to head back to the US on Saturday morning, but has stayed on to assist police with their investigations.

The 43-year-old has been a professional golfer since 1992, and while a consistent performer on the PGA Tour for 15 years he has never won a major tournament.

Allenby's best result at a major was to finish equal seventh - which he achieved twice - at the 2004 U.S. Open and the 2008 Open Championship.

He won Australia's 'triple crown' in 2005 - winning the Masters, Australian PGA and Australian Open.

He's also been a regular in the Presidents Cup, representing the International team five times between 1993 and 2009.

The Melbourne-born golfer now lives in the U.S. full time, in Jupiter, Florida.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2916367/What-really-happened-Robert-Allenby-Homeless-woman-claims-golfer-bloodied-confused-one-block-bar-kidnapped-bashed-robbed-NOT-town.html

Tania Cadogan said...

Why am i not buying this?

Why do i think he got drunk and fell over smashing his face on the sidewalk?

John Mc Gowan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
John Mc Gowan said...

Hi Tania,

I flagged a few areas of sensitivity in his statement in an OT i posted under a different article.

This one.


"Statement Analysis: Traffic Stops Part One, Titles"

Katprint said...

Re "The video is difficult to place in the context of the person we know."

There are no indications that this statement is untrue. The police officer probably didn't act disrespectful/threatening towards the lawyer or the employees at the law firm. Similarly, the police officer probably didn't slap any of them. My personal experience has been that criminal defendants are usually on their best behavior when meeting with their attorneys.

I agree that this statement is a weak denial re whether the police officer is habitually violent, however. Most people can control their behavior when highly motivated to do so.