It's a big responsibility that requires a good degree of knowledge in a wide variety of disciplines.
I, for one, would never want to be a cop, although a number of my family on my father's side were/are cops (his brother, in fact, was Chief of Police in a neighboring town).
That having been said, when you're packing heat and wearing body armor (the job is dangerous) while purporting to represent and protect those who pay your salary, you really should have at least a rudimentary grasp of public relations.
In the future, assuming nothing happens to the cop, how can he/she show his/her face in that neighborhood under any pretext? Those people no longer trust the cop in question, and now doubtless will be given pause in the future in dealing with anyone on the force.
I believe cops in many locales receive training (of the non-lethal kind) in dealing with belligerent canines, and if any of that training sunk in, had it been provided, it should have manifested in that situation.
It did not, and as a consequence there is at least one family in that town that no longer blindly trusts it's own policemen, and likely a fairly significant portion of that neighborhood that sympathizes with the affected family and has a little less trust in cops in general.
Put another way, this is the functional definition of "public relations nightmare" for the force.
The fact the cop admitted he "ordered the dog to 'stop'" before offing him only compounds the problem.
This is institutional stupidity on public display.
Why do I say that?
This police officer obviously has had inadequate training. In a real life-or-death situation, the question, which is real and palpable, is just how will this officer respond?
Fearfully, the answer appears to be, shoot first and ask questions later.
You may feel comfortable with that level of community service, but I don't.
CA....
“This police officer obviously has had inadequate training.” In the early 90’s, I took a concealed carry course. Faculty was local police department. They assessed a person’s situational assessment skills using FATS (Firearms Training Simulator or something like that.) Not only could they document the shooter’s response under emergency conditions, they also documented the shooter’s accuracy with the laser-gun device. Don’t police departments screen their applicants for psychological stability?