Firstly, I am generally pro-police. I think this is how the majority of the public feel. However, there’s a side to the police that irks many, and you have demonstrated this side. It’s the circling of the wagons mentality in your description of the events at this incident, which you have no more insight into that anyone else who was not there. I understand the whole band of brothers sense of camaraderie, but when it comes to incidents of police officers discharging a firearm, and that incident is still in the review stage, you have no business making public statements about what happened. It’s this very kind of public statement that gives the general public a very low opinion of how the police, police themselves. As for the previous incident, yes, this is noteworthy. It possibly indicates issues of the officer’s ability to self-manage his anxiety levels during moments of stress.
Also , I didn’t realize, Officer Elwood, that you witnessed the incident, because according to statement in which you say the police officer “really had no other choice”, it appears that you saw it all. I hope that you provide this important testimony to whoever is in charge of officially reviewing the incident.
Another poster chimed in , What I don’t understand is what people think the Police Officer should do. A German Shepherd as the 2nd most forceful bite of any dog – 235 lb per square inch. That’s enough to break bones in the leg, ankle or foot.
Soto replay this scenario, an 85 lb dog has your foot in his mouth. Being 4 -legged the dog can move, laterally, faster than an upright human – especially if he has the human’s foot in his mouth! SO exactly what is it that you think the Officer should have, or could have, done? Better yet, if this had been you, what would you have done?
Looks like the police union is out with its “facts and figures” to try and muddy the water to distract attention away from the real issues here: 1) This was an 85 lb German Shepherd with the 2nd most forceful bite of any dog – 235 lb per square inch. That’s enough to break bones in the leg, ankle or foot; and 2) having a window open to allow a dog to go in and out of a house into a fenced backyard poses a problem itself, especially in terms of liability for the homeowner. Guess the union hasn’t learned anything from the recent human deaths in Staten Island, Ferguson, Georgia, South Carolina or Baltimore.