Posted on 12/21/2006 7:18:44 PM PST by FreedomCalls
The police report in the incident does not list any guns found at the Harris home
If our "laws" actually followed the Constitution, as they are supposed to in order to have ANY authority at all, a complaint that you saw your neighbor walking around with a gun would illicit a response of "so what?". Not a raid in which the cops end up shooting the family pet.
I think that years of (literal) highway robbery under the guise of "traffic safety enforcement" has gone a long way toward eroding the (former) default assumption that the police are on the same side as the average respectable citizen.
Sometimes, exactly what the police officer is directing them to do.
A quote from the article (one of a series of articles, actually):
"A grainy videotape shot by a bystander showed Carrion on the ground next to the car with Webb standing and pointing at gun at him.
A voice appears to order Carrion to rise, but when the airman appears to begin complying, the deputy shoots him three times. Carrion was shot in the chest, shoulder and thigh and was hospitalized for several days. "
Let's get one thing straight! I'm sorry that the dog is dead. I'm sorry that the girl witnessed it.
I guess there are people in this world who thinks that the police are evil, and wouldn't care if they got mauled by a dog.
I guess there are people who just run off to lawyers without thinking that they may have done something to bring this about. I'm NOT one of them!
Again, we don't know what the complaint was, they don't say here the exact nature of the complaint. Not all complaints pan out, but they nonetheless have a duty to investigate. They did not raid, they were in the yard.
As we all know the vast majority of cops are good cops!
This is not the first time though that I have read an article on FR where a cop shot a dog for basically no other reason than it barked at him and the cop was in a bad mood.
"....(literal) highway robbery under the guise of "traffic safety enforcement"..."
Please clarify.
Anyway, so that means that all cops are bad?
That case has nothing to do with this one. You want me to quote stories of unrelated ~good~ police work here to try to prove all cops are good? Would it prove anything?
I use a real cheap bb gun pistol. You usually only have to hit them twice. The first time they are confused and don't know what to do and just stand there. Then the second time they take off. After that, all you gotta do is shoot without a bb in the gun and the sound alone sends them running.
And before I get flamed by a bunch of animal rights freaks I'll have you know that as kids we all shot eachother with these cheap crappy pistols. They are really weak.
You will not get "mauled" every time a dog approaches you. Most are friendly. A few are not. You don't have to shoot every one of them that comes toward you just to be safe.
The dog "protected" the daughter? It's not like they lived in the Swiss Alps.
After three shots are fired in my yard, I can safely call it a "raid."
They had retreated to the street to evade the loose dog... It's not a completely insignificant distinction.
So can I.
Your implication in the post I originally responded to is that if people have bad experiences with policemen, they must be doing something wrong.
Not necessarily the case.
Which is why it's vital, if one is to remain remotely credible, to actually assess the real facts of situations, not just run wild with our imaginations and biases.
As I posted before: If I had a dollar for every time a strange dog has "lunged" or otherwise approached me on the street, I'd be rich, and I've never shot one of them. Why is this an implied right for cops?
???
According to the story she's 12 years old.
Yes, I saw "Night of the Lepus" too but I don't shoot bunny rabbits, no matter how large they are.
You ever watch "Cops"? I guess all those whacked out people and their relatives/friends that decide to dis the police are innocent, and that the police made them do "it".
I NEVER said that ALL police act appropriately ALL situations.
They have a extremely difficult job that involves snap judgement. You've never, ever had to make a snap judgement that was wrong? They are only people just like you. Tis human to err.
Hope everyone that is piling on never has to call the police.
See if you still hold that opinion after this type of incident happens to your family.
Personally, I'd be none too "understanding".
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