While officers in this country kill far more people than any other highly developed democracy and are shielded by powerful police unions, dog shootings still receive extensive national attention. “Given that there’s no shortage of actual human beings getting shot by police officers, pointing these stories out can sometimes seem a bit callous,” says Radley Balko, a journalist who has done much to expose cops killing dogs. “But I think they’re worth noting."
A database project that hoped to document and give better statistics on this had to shut down its collection efforts because there were too many submissions.
It shouldn't be a problem for you, since none of you should come into conflict with the law. Well, at least that's how things used to be.
5 comments:
Police kill about 1,000 people a year. Police kill about 10,000 dogs a year. Dogs are more dangerous than people? (tried commenting as Gringo, blocked, )
Dogs don't have legal rights vs cops, and cops get immunity for this nonsense so you can't sue for property damage.
That implies that they might shoot more people if they were similarly immune.
I think the focus in law enforcement training on seizing command and control implies eliminating factors that aren't perfectly controllable. That the dog may be a beloved member of the family isn't important; it's potentially not perfectly controllable, could possibly disrupt the search or arrest, and can simply be eliminated as a factor with impunity.
Plus, having seen their dog murdered in front of them, whoever the police are dealing with might be cowed by the demonstration of a readiness to use deadly force. It may also throw them into shock, which might make them pliable.
Man’s Loyal Dog
A man had a very loyal dog.
One day when he returned home, he found the dog’s mouth all covered with blood and the cradle overturned, while his baby boy was nowhere to be seen.
“What have you done?!” he shouted as he drew his sword and slew the dog.
But then as he picked up the fallen cradle, he found the baby safe beneath, along with the corpse of a deadly snake whom the dog had killed.
“What have I done?!” he groaned, lamenting how cruelly he had rewarded the dog who had saved the life of his son.
That implies that they might shoot more people if they were similarly immune.
Well, and some might, but I don't think that's true of most. At least, I hope it's not.
Your explanation is more reasonable, except that when the shooting starts, that opens up a whole new set of factors like ricochets, people who are nearby and can hear but not see might think they are taking fire, etc.
Still, in your favor, the factors I mentioned are probably not important since they don't seem to come up.
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