The Greensboro Police Department has terminated a police academy cadet after his arrest on charges that he impersonated a law enforcement officer and falsely imprisoned a woman.
According to the department, 20-year-old Maceo John Cannon was arrested Tuesday morning in connection with an April 21 incident involving a woman he allegedly confronted about her driving.
Police say Cannon was wearing a jacket displaying GPD patches during the encounter and had his department-issued laptop visible on his personal vehicle, according to information in the arrest warrant. Investigators allege those details were used to present himself as an officer during the interaction.
Detectives with the Greensboro Police Department said they became aware of the situation after receiving a report from a citizen and quickly launched an investigation.
Cannon was charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer and false imprisonment – both misdemeanor offenses – and has since posted a $1,500 unsecured bond, according to online booking records.
“While state law limits what we can discuss with regard to personnel matters, we want our community to know that this department believes in the importance of transparency and accountability,” Interim Chief Chris Schultheis said in a statement released Tuesday morning.
The department confirmed that Cannon’s employment as a police academy cadet has been terminated.
Police say the case remains under investigation.
I’ll Be Back
Scary that guy got that close to being a police officer.
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Most of them DO become LEOs.
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Cops and wannabe cops have this weird personality disorder where they want to intimidate and have power over others.
Creeps.
If that were true as a blanket statement, then they wouldn’t have fired the guy. He was held accountable for doing exactly what you say and they got rid of him immediately.
Society tries to expect perfection from cops, but you have to realize all you need is a GED and clean record to get hired. If you want cops to be amazing, then raise standards. However, that will mean paying them on par with doctors and lawyers. You get what you pay for. Still, they do what they can with what they have to work with and sometimes dirtbags slip through. Once again, as soon as it came to light, they fired the guy. You can really expect a better response, and it is a clear demonstration the the myth of the “Blue Wall of Silence” or whatever you want to call it, is BS.
Perfect response Don. I personally think sometimes society forgets that Police Officers are human. They have feelings, thoughts and emotions just like all of us but they are expected to make split second decisions and then bear the consequences of it. Good or bad. Just like society there are good people and bad people. The same goes for Police Officers
Thanks!
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Oh Don, you are real predictable. I was wondering how long it would take to see a comment from you.
You have previously denied that you are a Law Enforcement Officer but I just don’t believe you. You always comment on anything Law nforcement. So what’s the basis for your denial? Maybe you’re no longer a cop, just a retired one.
Whatever.
A lot of cops are good guys. And a lot of them are creeps. Can you admit that?
Regardless, whether or not Don is a law enforcement officer or not, he is entitled to his opinion. If he does have experience as an officer, I am more inclined to give credence to his opinion because he has experience. I know this, if someone threatened me, I would call a police officer for help not a social worker.
As far as the police academy cadet is concerned, I suspect there is a problem with the candidate pool. Law enforcement is an honorable career that has been degraded by “defund the police” and “disband police departments.” These asinine ideas originated from Blacks Lives Matter and other such organizations strengthened by politicians that should be summarily voted out of office. Defunding the police is a gift to criminals.
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I never said that he’s NOT entitled to his opinion.
So what’s your point?
Name a job where there isn’t a broad range of personalities? There are bad eggs that slip through in every profession. There are creepy preachers wno touch kids or steal money, teachers who have sex with their students, dirt bag lawyers, malpracticing doctors, you name it. Cops have some of the lowest hiring requirements but the highest societal expectations. Those two things cannot go together without turmoil.
If a cop is violating your rights, complain on them and it will get addressed, which is exactly what happened here. The person complained, the cadet got investigated, and the cadet got fired. Deservedly so. Not sure what else you want out of this.
I support the police, not bad cops. Your original statement, which sparked my reply, was against all cops. You called them all “creeps”.
Thanks again Don. I stand with you on this. I’ve had my share of interactions with Police and I’ve found that 99% of the time if I gave respect I got respect. A couple times especially in Myrtle Beach at the motorcycle rally I will say a few of the Police were not what I’d call good Police officers but again they do have a tough time that week. Within the last couple years Greensboro has lost 2 really fine officers and there’s no doubt about it, they were far from creepy. Sorry Al I can’t agree with you, you really should look at that blanket statement
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OF COURSE other professions have control freaks and creeps among them – that’s not the point. They have no power to cause me huge harm and hardship.
The police DO.
An individual creep cop (like the guy in this article) can cause me huge problems, and can even kill me.
An {deleted]] bank clerk or waiter is irrelevant. But a Law Enforcement Officer has all the might and power of the state behind him – including the right to use lethal force.
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And I never claimed all cops were creeps.
Let’s try to stay honest, Don : – I even said “A lot of cops are good guys”.
Don’t start misrepresenting what I said, or I’ll begin to think you are Chris (“The Professor”).
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Al, this is your original quote in its entirety:
” Cops and wannabe cops have this weird personality disorder where they want to intimidate and have power over others.
Creeps.”
Your reply post took a step back and qualified that statement, but I originally commented to the above quote which disparaged all cops. You didn’t say “some cops” you said “cops and wanna be cops”. You did not qualify your statement in any way, by default meaning you are referring to all cops. You are the one trying to misrepresent what you yourself originally said.
As to the power argument, you specifically picked a bank clerk, where your money is insured against theft by the FDIC, so there could be no harm. Use my examples and tell me that. A crooked judge, lawyer, doctor, etc could certainly do you major harm. Doctor could easily kill you, a judge incarcerate you, a priest diddle your kids. Look what far left judges are doing right now! No harm? Come on and be real dude.
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I’m sorry Don, but you’re wrong. Common usage in a generalization like that is not all encompassing. As an example, if you overhear a lady say “Italians are great lovers”, she is NOT saying that all Italians, every single one of them, are great lovers.
This is obvious.
And if it’s still not clear to you, then my assertion that a lot of cops are good guys should have cleared it up – unless you’re just being a dick, to try to make a point. But then, you’re a cop yourself, aren’t you? Or have some close connection – right?
I’m sorry that you can’t accept that I conceded that “A lot of cops are good guys” – which is what I believe. You seem more interested in semantic pettifoggery, and cherry picking my remarks to maintain a point you have already lost.
You’re looking more like Chris every hour…
Oh, and you never answered my question, did you?
Can you admit that a lot of cops are creeps ? Simple question.
Yes or no.
Oh another thing. A bank clerk isn’t going to shoot me.
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As for the “great lovers” thing, sure it’s a generalization, which largely means “for the most part” or “more often than not”. It is a broad brush that is generally applied to the group being referred to. So, at best, your first post meant cops are creeps “in general”. But my statement was a reply to your original statement…before you posted your walk back. If your first statement had qualified your statement, we wouldn’t be talking.
Yes, some cops are dirtbags, just like in every job anywhere in the world. I would not say it’s “a lot”, which is where we seem to disagree. The bad cops that get found out are fired or charged criminally if they break the law. THE SAME AS ANY OTHER JOB, which is my point. Heck, cops have it even harder because they are always under the microscope to the point that everything they do has to be recorded on their body camera.
And a bank clerk could shoot you illegally just as easy as a cop could. There is no magic shield that says bank clerks don’t carry guns, especially ones who have decided to be creeps/criminals etc. I mean, you are saying the issue would be that the cop is a bad one and is intentionally shooting you illegally, so why couldn’t the dirtbag bank clerk do the same thing?
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I haven’t walked back anything — but you have. You’ve withdrawn your claim that I said all cops were creeps, now admitting that my statement was a generalization that characterized most cops as creeps, in general. Thank you. You at least possess a degree of intellectual honesty.
And there is no equivalence between the power a bank clerk holds over me and that of an armed Law Enforcement Officer with a gun on his belt – obviously.
Get real, dude.
That line of argument is fallacious anyway because the bank clerk is not a representative of our government, and does not have the entire might and power of the state behind him when he’s wearing the badge. It’s a false analogy.
The police are held to a higher standard not only because of the power vested in each one of them by the state, but because they represent our democratic government and public servants. That’s why it’s so egregious and unacceptable when they abuse their power – which happens WAY too often.
Law Enforcement is an irresistible allure for people of a certain personality type. People who get turned on by control over others. Schoolyard bully types, and butch lesbian types. Basically, people who are trying to prove something, to themselves and the World.
And that’s why a lot of cops are creeps.
Yes, a cop has the right to use force, but also is held accountable for that use of force. Which is why, when they abuse it, like this kid did, they get criminally charged and fired. Power, whether instilled by the government, the church, whatever, can always be abused and there are always people in every profession who will abuse it. Lives are destroyed by that abuse every single day in all walks of life.
Tell people sitting in prison for the rest of their lives after a judge put them there illegally that it’s not as bad as when a cop does wrong. Tell the rape victims of coaches, teachers, priests who used their positions of power to take what they wanted that their lifetime of suffering isn’t as big a deal as when a cop does it. I mean are you trying to say that our house and senate, who literally dictate the fate of our country, are a bunch of angels? That their poor decisions don’t harm the very fabric of our nation? Talk about the percentage of creeps per capita in a career, my gosh.
My point is that a bad actor is going to do bad things. As horrific as it is, there is absolutely nothing special about when cops do it as compared to the teacher, the judge, the priest, etc. A ruined life is a ruined life. The bad cop is held accountable, more often than not to that higher standard you mentioned. Not sure what your point is and you really lost me by randomly disparaging lesbians for some reason.
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What a bunch of disconnected, diffuse, rambling rubbish. I thought better of you before I read all that, Don.
Don’s identity is so wrapped up in, and invested in law enforcement that it is impossible for him to admit to the travesty of malfeasance by law enforcement.
For Don, the police can do no wrong. He’s constitutionally incapable of admitting that a single cop even has a zit on his ass. It’s kinda sad really,
We all know that there are bad cops out there. A lot of them.
It’s really depressing when one of their own can’t admit it.
I have repeatedly and openly stated that there are bad cops. My stance is and has been that there are bad eggs in every profession, cops are no exception. When they get found out, they get thrown out, as they should, and as I have stated. So, you are just flat out lying now, bro. Still not sure what your point is with all this other than you had a bad experience in the past.
I support the police just like I support the military. It doesn’t make me a cop any more than a soldier. There’s just not anyone disparaging the military on here. And yes, there are plenty of creeps in the military too that need to be discharged ASAP.
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I haven’t lied about anything. The only prevarication here has come from you, in two forms: your reluctance to honestly and explicitly disclose your connection to law enforcement, and your claim that I said ALL cops are creeps (now withdrawn).
Anyone reviewing this comment column can read it for themselves.
And I never said that I have had a bad experience with cops; my EVERY interaction with cops has demonstrated that they are ASS**LES – with the consistent exception of Sheriff’s Deputies, who have always been professional and courteous.
And I’m no criminal. Just a good upstanding citizen who drives too fast.
Maybe you’re a good cop, Officer Don, in which case I salute you. Really. But indications are not promising.
And I have no intention on going easy on rotten cops or rotten wannabe cops, now or in future.
Nobody should.
You have lied. You said I won’t admit there are bad cops when I have clearly stated otherwise. And just because you want me to be a cop doesn’t make it so. I support the police and have worked with them in my own capacity throughout my career. (Which I have stated previously. It’s no secret.) Most of them are good people with varying degrees of competence. There are certainly some bad ones, though none that I have worked with directly. Like I have maintained throughout this back and forth, bad cops should be rooted out and held accountable for whatever they are doing wrong. I am in the dark as to why you don’t want to admit that I have maintained that point from the beginning.
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So you have admitted that there are “some” bad cops out there. That’s not much of a revelation.
I say a lot of cops possess a creepy desire to exercise control over others. People like that crave careers in law enforcement, for obvious reasons. They love the one sided power they wield, and the delicious control over others that it gives them.
In other words, they’re creeps.
And if you want to come clean about your relationship with law enforcement, go ahead. Tell us all. There’s clearly an interest you should declare.
Like talking to a wall. Have a good one.
your ‘holding to a higher standard’ could b used to deny their basic freedoms just because of their role in culture ?
That is really a shame that you feel that way. I am so glad I don’t share your sentiments.
kinda like parents . . . siblings . . . managers . . . cats . . . pimps . . . evangelists . . . taylor swift . . .
Kind of like city council and county commissioners .
There are bad seeds in all walks of life. The decline of ethics & morality accelerates. Not only here, but almost everywhere. Times are-a-changing.
what do soldiers returning from our various ‘wars’ think about ‘ethics & morality’ ? what do vietnam combat vets (not clerks) think about ethics & morality ? ‘america’ does not exemplify ‘ethics & morality’ to ANYONE but preachers, teachers n politicians !
I was referring to EVERYONE.