Bear recently wrote an excellent essay about the increase of lethal force used by law enforcement on family pets. Since most of us have pets, I thought this would be a great place to share his words.
Below is the summary, and the link to the article.
Thanks Bear! Great job!
Summary:
•This is not an anti-law enforcement rant. However, it does emphasize the increasing erosion of trust between the average citizen and law enforcement due to the dramatic growth of lethal force used in pet related incidents.
•For community policing to be successful, and crime reduction efforts to be effective, citizens must have unfailing trust in the police.
•It is not fair to criticize all law enforcement based on the actions of a few. It is equally unfair to condemn all dogs based on the actions of a few.
•In numerous incidents the outcome is always the same. The officer felt threatened. The dog was allegedly acting aggressively towards the officer or others. The officer used lethal force as the first option.
•Many citizens feel officers that use excessive/lethal force as their first, perhaps preferred, option in dealing with domesticated pets and are unjustified in doing so.
•Policies that require only that an officer "feel" threatened sets a very low threshold for justifying the killing of dogs.
•Good people operating in a bad or naive system will do bad things.
•The ASPCA has released a position statement calling into question current policies and reporting a disturbing trend.
•A handbook released by the Department of Justice: The Problem of Dog-Related Incidents and Encounters, law enforcement has the basic training available that could have theoretically diffused countless situations in a more reasonable manner.
•Social media outlets allow citizens to spread their messages easily, which reveals this disturbing nationwide issue is on the rise.
•This is not an anti-law enforcement rant. However, it does emphasize the increasing erosion of trust between the average citizen and law enforcement due to the dramatic growth of lethal force used in pet related incidents.
•For community policing to be successful, and crime reduction efforts to be effective, citizens must have unfailing trust in the police.
•It is not fair to criticize all law enforcement based on the actions of a few. It is equally unfair to condemn all dogs based on the actions of a few.
•In numerous incidents the outcome is always the same. The officer felt threatened. The dog was allegedly acting aggressively towards the officer or others. The officer used lethal force as the first option.
•Many citizens feel officers that use excessive/lethal force as their first, perhaps preferred, option in dealing with domesticated pets and are unjustified in doing so.
•Policies that require only that an officer "feel" threatened sets a very low threshold for justifying the killing of dogs.
•Good people operating in a bad or naive system will do bad things.
•The ASPCA has released a position statement calling into question current policies and reporting a disturbing trend.
•A handbook released by the Department of Justice: The Problem of Dog-Related Incidents and Encounters, law enforcement has the basic training available that could have theoretically diffused countless situations in a more reasonable manner.
•Social media outlets allow citizens to spread their messages easily, which reveals this disturbing nationwide issue is on the rise.
No comments:
Post a Comment