Actions Of The Cookeville, TN Police Department

[Ala Dan]

Greeting's All,

In response to the growing out-cry of public opinion, how
do you preceive the finding's of the recent use of a firearm
by the Cookeville, TN Police Department? I would like to
give you my take on the situation; based on just what
I have read and heard:

First, let me begin by saying that the event's I'm about
to discuss are both sad and tragic; and I fully understand
both sides of the equation.

Anytime a FELONY car stop is initiated, a LEO's pulse is
highly accelerated; expecting the worst case scenario.
Police officer's, sheriff's deputy's, state tropper's and
the like are trained professional's; and have undergone
rigid scrunity to get the job in the first place. I myself
am a retired 20 year veteran LEO, so perhaps I might
understand this situation a bit more than someone who
has never undertaken this type of duty.

First and foremost, all LEO's are sworn to "PROTECT
AND SERVE" the community in which they are based. It's
hereby unclear how this situation actually came about; but
all agency's involved assumed that the victims had been
involved in some type of a robbery. What is known, is the
fact that the state trooper was pursuing the suspect vechile
down the interstate; and requested assistance from the
City Of Cookeville, TN Police Departmet.

After all available units had assembled, a FELONY car stop
was executed; with the occupant's being removed from
the vechile, and the door(s) left ajar. At some point, a
family pet in the form of a bulldog exited the vechile and
began to bark (quite customary for most dog's). For some
unknown reason, a Cookeville Police Officer open fire on
the family pet with a 12 gague shotgun! The animal was
D.O.S., to a grieving family; returning home from vacation.
IMHO, the action(s) of this officer were inapproiate for the
following reasons:

a) the officer FAILED to uphold the public trust held in his
position as a police officer.

b) the officer FAILED to render full, efficient, and industrious
service as required of his position.

c) the officer FAILED to "Protect and Serve", by firing a 12
gague shotgun in the mist of the investigation*.

d) the officer FAILED to excercise good judgement.

*firing at a family pet, while he should have been paying
attention to detail; and kept his eyes trained on the potential
suspect's.

Therefore, after taking all fact's into consideration I strongly
recommend that the Chief Of Police of Cookeville, TN take
swift and immediate disclipnary action against the police
officer involved; with suspension and possible termination
of employment a consideration!

Respectfully,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member Retired 20-year veteran LEO

 

[Bob R]

Maybe I am way off base here, but, I am thankful a PERSON did
not get shot during this event. From what I saw the LEO's had shotguns and at least 1 AR15 type weapon.

As soon as the dog was shot, the owner of the dog jumped to his feet, it could have gotten very ugly, very fast.

And then again, if it had been a person shot, and not the dog, would there be such an outcry? Just wondering?

bob

 

[12-34hom]

Dog gone it.

Give it a rest. Yesterday, where i "protect & serve" there were four German shepards running loose in a pack.

They chased two citizens back into thier homes & were harassing livestock on the edge of my town.

Lucky for the owner [who i contacted, and hates police of any type] was told to curb his dogs or i would kill every one of them on site. He told me he would sue me and the city and issued other threats to my personal saftey.

If the dog is off leash, with no collar or tags, it's pretty much history in my book. Ia code backs me on this pertaining to dogs running loose.

Ever been bitten by a dog?? I have, and it's little to no fun. Get a pack of dogs on top of you and it's a life threating situation.

I used to live in the southern portion of this state, and there was a real problem with dogs killing livestock. They do it for "fun".

The officer in this situation felt threatened. Then did what he felt was needed. No more or less.

12-34hom.

 

[F4GIB]

The officer in this situation felt threatened. Then did what he felt was needed. No more or less.

Oh, that bring up a new question.

What would he have done if he had been unarmed?

 

[Cal4D4]

Ala Dan...

Speaking for all us civvies who have not "been there and done that", thank you.

 

[Steve in PA]

Arm chair quarterbacks always throw a touchdown! :banghead:

 

[TallPine]

12-34hom:

Don't you think your comparisions are a little off?

There is a big difference between letting dogs run loose to cause havoc and a dog accidently getting loose (in this case because a car's occupants were removed at gunpoint).

It's the cops like you that scare me.

 

[3 gun]

Since there had been no crime of any kind committed by the family, this stop was an over reaction at all levels from the police.
Pulling the family from the car at gun point, handcuffing them, and not allowing them to even close the door to prevent the dog from leaving the car, how can anyone begin to defend the police in this case? They completely deserve the heat and bad press for their actions.

 

[F4GIB]

I went out today and role-played being a compliant civilian held at gun point and ordered out of the car. My hands are out the door, I unlock it with the outside door handle, I pull it open (always keeping my hands in sight because I remember Baltimore), I step awkwardly out of the car and pull my hands into position above my head. I am now standing next to the seat with the door open. I turn around slowly with the wide open door to my right. There is no way I can close the door without (1) making a furtive gesture with my hands, or (2) putting my leg around the door while standing on one foot & disobeying the repeated shouts to stand still, or (3) walking around the door and bumping it shut with my hip (disobeying orders, making all sorts of furtive gestures, raising suspecions that I'm hiding something and probably being shot). There is no safe way for me to do anything. If I request permission to act, as the Smokes did, I'll get told to "shut up" or smacked in the face but no one will listen (obviously) to my pleas. Even after I kneel down and get cuffed, no one will listen (they didn't in the Smoak incident; not even the officer who had James safely secured). In fact, moving my lips is a good way to get hurt. I'm not in control, the police are.

Imagine the level of tension and fear that would have been induced if the Smoaks started moving around in the car trying to secure the dogs at any time after the blue lights went on. If they did that after they were stopped and the guns were on them, a shooting would be the likely prospect.

What could the family have done???

That question has been asked repeatedly on every internet forum. No LEO seems to want to answer is other than to say "sh*t happens." That's not an acceptable answer which explains why 80% of respondents in the CNN poll think the police did wrong in Cookeville. The lack of a good answer deeply angers civilians and probably accounts for why they won't let go of this issue.

 

[Preacherman]

Friends, this is the sixth or seventh thread on this issue that we've seen on THR. We're not just flogging a dead horse here - by now, the darn horse is fossilized!!! Let's wait and see what the legal process brings forth. We can't add any new evidence: all we're doing is re-hashing arguments that have been stated ad nauseam elsewhere. I'm closing this thread down to avoid further pointless debate.