4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columbus

[momhappy]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

Maybe I'm confused as to why you started this thread It's an interesting scenario and I'm glad that you shared it, but I thought that it might be meant to provoke dialogue? It seems that the only dialogue that you welcome is one that is in concert with yours? I don't disagree with your thoughts/opinions, AGBF, I just have a natural tendency to question things that I read. At first glance, one might be quick to judge an officer shooting a 4 year-old child, but there is always more than one side to a story and that's when I start digging My posts were not meant to irritate you and I apologize if that was the case

 

[katharath]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

Deb, I also share your horror and rage at this situation and others like it.

As other posts indicate, as well as my own, you're not alone in your feelings. We should definitely talk about such things, if only at the very least to vent our frustration, and to demand better from the people we put in such positions of trust.

 

[AGBF]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

Maybe I'm confused as to why you started this thread It's an interesting scenario and I'm glad that you shared it, but I thought that it might be meant to provoke dialogue? It seems that the only dialogue that you welcome is one that is in concert with yours? I don't disagree with your thoughts/opinions, AGBF, I just have a natural tendency to question things that I read. At first glance, one might be quick to judge an officer shooting a 4 year-old child, but there is always more than one side to a story and that's when I start digging My posts were not meant to irritate you and I apologize if that was the case

I honestly do not know why it seems to you that the only dialogue I welcome is one that is in concert with mine. (First of all, dialogue, by its nature, requires two sides.) That also does not mean that I see equal merit in all arguments! I believe that some positions are far more sensible than others!

When I argue with someone it does not mean that I do not welcome hearing his opinion. I love to discuss and debate. That is my nature. Yes, sometimes I have gotten into heated debates over issues with people. But never have I ceased to respect the individuals with whom I was debating, even if matters became heated.

I realize that not all Pricescopers want to discuss and debate. I have been assuming that only that want to are posing in these threads.
I started this thread because I felt that the subject should see the light of day.

Finally, your posts are always very polite. I have no idea why you would apologize to me for anything you have ever said!!!

Deb

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

[quote="AGBF|

I chose the example of a black teenager shooting a policeman because that is the kind of story where the establishment is least likely to automatically defend the shooter. Where people are least likely to start talking about "ricochet" theories. Why do I believe this? Because I believe there is racism in this country. Not because I believe you are a closet racist. I don't know you. But I know the statistics about young black men's deaths.

Deb/AGBF[/quote]



And do you know which race is doing most of the shooting against these black men?

 

[AGBF]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

AGBF:

I chose the example of a black teenager shooting a policeman because that is the kind of story where the establishment is least likely to automatically defend the shooter. Where people are least likely to start talking about "ricochet" theories. Why do I believe this? Because I believe there is racism in this country. Not because I believe you are a closet racist. I don't know you. But I know the statistics about young black men's deaths.




Dancing Fire:

"And do you know which race is doing most of the shooting against these black men?"

You are trying to say that most black people are shot by other black people as if that means we do not live in a racist society. I contend that that the number of black on black shootings is another symptom of how the black people have not yet fully escaped the legacy of slavery; segregation; and discrimination they experienced in this country. On this very board I have heard Asian-Americans describe racial slurs they have encountered. Black people hear even more of them.

Deb/AGBF

 

[MollyMalone]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

Deb,
Posts punctuated by the use of boldface, CAPS, and/or BOTH feel to me like the author is yelling.

Your query was prefaced by

I don't know how many times in this thread I have read that the child who was shot may not have been "directly shot" but "hit by a ricochet".

So the query -- If a policeman had been shot by a black teenager would anyone have written that no one knows if he was "directly shot or hit by a ricochet"? -- came across as being directed at "you people"; did not convey the point you've since said you were trying to make.

Without rancor, I explained why your belief that there is "no evidence that the officer suffered [psychologically/emotionally] at all" was mistaken. You did not acknowledge that. And despite an example in this very thread of how not knowing about something doesn't inevitably mean it did not happen, you then responded to momhappy with (boldface & caps in original)

Yup. I got this. In other words there has been NO scientific evidence of a ricochet. NONE. But there has been endless talk about it. Because people wanted to think the policeman might not have hit her with his shot. Even though the force of his bullet broke her bone. Magical thinking.

These are some of the reasons I have felt that you have not been welcoming, in this thread, of perspectives that do not entirely align with your own.

I myself would prefer to see further exploration unfold here re what I think was your initial focus: how can the number of tragic outcomes such as this be reduced? E.g., is it possible to find out the policies of & training by various police departments concerning a situation where a dog is charging/lunging at an officer; how exactly do such policies-training differ from that of the USPS and why, I.e., is it reasonable to expect a police officer to respond as is expected of mail carriers?

Scooting off to work ~ Molly

 

[telephone89]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

I can't even believe people are suggesting this is a ricochet - a) trying to lessen the situation, and b) when a bullet ricochets it loses so much of its power. Dangerous? Sure, but bone shattering? C'mon people.

 

[AGBF]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

Posts punctuated by the use of boldface, CAPS, and/or BOTH feel to me like the author is yelling.

I am sorry you feel that I "yelled" at you and/or other posters, Molly. Unfortunately, since we have different ways of expressing ourselves in print on the Internet you will have to accept my word that I did not intend to do so.

When other people write all in capital letters I feel that they are "yelling", so I understand your your response.

I often bold sentences within a poster's response, leaving the poster's response intact, to show others the phrase or sentence to which I am responding.

The other thing I do (as you noticed) is to use italics and bold freely. It is, also, how I speak. According to others, I am apparently usually an unusually soft spoken person and also one who speaks relatively infrequently. I am a social worker by profession and I listen rather than speak in most social situations. I cannot go to cocktail parties, because I do not talk. My husband, who used to need me to go with him when he worked in the private sector for years, said he would always "find (me) in a corner psychoanalyzing someone". But on the infrequent occasions when I get into political discussions or discussions about matters about which I am passionate, I become another person. My 23 year-old daughter is highly entertained by the transformation. My voice gets louder (although I do not shout at individuals) and I speak much more rapidly. I have been told more times than I can count that I should be a lawyer (or in the Senate).

I have also, always, written with enough force to rip through paper with a "lead" pencil back in the days when I was writing about politics on yellow lined pads with pencils.

As long as I do not say offensive things to other people, I am not going to attempt to quell my passion about my opinions.

I do want you to know that the fact that I am passionate does not mean that in person I would raise my voice to you.

AGBF

 

[momhappy]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

I can't even believe people are suggesting this is a ricochet - a) trying to lessen the situation, and b) when a bullet ricochets it loses so much of its power. Dangerous? Sure, but bone shattering? C'mon people.

A ricochet was only brought up by anyone in this thread is because that is one of the details that was reported in some of the news stories. I didn't post it to minimize the situation - I posted it because that's what I read. To me, acknowledging that the injury could have been caused by a ricochet does not minimize the situation, it simply means that maybe the little girl was not in the line of sight/fire when the officer discharged his weapon. I don't think that any one implied that her injury would be somehow "less" as a result of a ricochet - I think that it was more about whether or not the officer followed protocol when firing his weapon. No matter what the circumstances, I think that we could all agree that an injuring a 4 year-old girl in an accidental shooting is horrifying (if the bullet hit her directly or was the result of a ricochet).

 

[Dancing Fire]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

[quote="AGBF|

You are trying to say that most black people are shot by other black people as if that means we do not live in a racist society. I contend that that the number of black on black shootings is another symptom of how the black people have not yet fully escaped the legacy of slavery; segregation; and discrimination they experienced in this country. On this very board I have heard Asian-Americans describe racial slurs they have encountered. Black people hear even more of them.

Deb/AGBF[/quote]



Deb
There will always be racialism in our country, but not as much as the (left NYT) want you to think...

Think about it, if we really have a high % of racist in the U.S. then we wouldn't have a black President in office today. Mr. Obama wouldn't be Prez today w/o white votes.

 

[telephone89]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

Even if it was a ricochet, the officer still SHOT someone. It was his gun, his bullet, his finger on the trigger. Just because he missed his intended target does not mean he didn't SHOOT someone. That is what is lessening the situation. Trying to skirt around that fact.

 

[packrat]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

Training training training training training training. Unfortunately that costs money, which people aren't jumping at the chance of paying for. And it takes a certain type of person to do certain types of jobs. Unfortunately, sometimes the only way to tell if someone is going to be good at a job, to have the right heart for it, is for them to do the job. Also unfortunately, when we act the way we do and do the things we do and say the things we say, however *coughcough* nice we're trying to be and as *coughcough* curious as we say we are about certain things that usually end up as thinly veiled attacks and snark about the job and the people that do the the job--we lessen our likely hood of finding those right people to do said job.

I encounter a lot of wide eyed gasps and hand to the chest in amazement and "Oh goodness sakes, I didn't mean *that*" "I didn't mean it that way". And I encounter a lot of snideness "Well, *you* took it the wrong way." "All *I'm* doing is asking to get answers and get to the bottom of things".

 

[MollyMalone]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

AGBF: "I do want you to know that the fact that I am passionate does not mean that in person I would raise my face to you."
Appreciate that, thanks.

I can't even believe people are suggesting this is a ricochet - a) trying to lessen the situation, and b) when a bullet ricochets it loses so much of its power. Dangerous? Sure, but bone shattering? C'mon people.

I still think it could be more useful to have a "big picture" discussion of encounters between police officers and household dogs. But it is not true that a richocheting bullet is benign, relatively speaking. People have died from being struck by a bullet that richocheted from an initial impact point far more distant than what would be the case, if it happened, at the Ellis's household premises. The most recent case that's garnered a fair amount of media attention is the death of Kate Steinle in San Fancisco (100 feet between the bullet's 2 points of impact):
http://www.mercurynews.com/immigrat...xpert-calls-fatal-shot?source=top_stories_bar

Do a simple Google search of ricochet bullet + killed or died (and one using richochet bullet + injured), and I think you will be surprised at the number and nature of injuries and deaths suffered by hapless victims.

I know from the couple of forensic ballistics classes I've had (part of my CLE when a prosecutor) that there are a lot of variables that come into play, e.g., the firearm itself; the distance between discharge and the first point of impact & then, between the point of ricochet and the victim's body; the respective angles; the nature of the surface the bullet first struck, etc. No one here, myself included, is privy to the details about the scene at the Ellis's, the nature of the little child's injury (which might shed some light on the trajectory), the conclusions that have been-will be drawn by ballistics experts . Which is why I have not opined that the child's injury IS due to a ricocheted bullet. But I am equally unwilling to presently declare that could not have possibly happened.

 

[momhappy]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

Even if it was a ricochet, the officer still SHOT someone. It was his gun, his bullet, his finger on the trigger. Just because he missed his intended target does not mean he didn't SHOOT someone. That is what is lessening the situation. Trying to skirt around that fact.

I guess that I don't see it as trying to skirt around the fact that the officer shot someone by accident. He shot someone and that's a fact. Unfortunately, accidental shootings happen some times. Yes, it's horrifying, but it happens. It's even more horrifying when it's a young child, but again, accidents happen. My hope would be that a thorough investigation would be conducted and the officer would suffer the consequences if he did not follow police procedure/protocol.

 

[telephone89]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

AGBF: "I do want you to know that the fact that I am passionate does not mean that in person I would raise my face to you."
Appreciate that, thanks.

I can't even believe people are suggesting this is a ricochet - a) trying to lessen the situation, and b) when a bullet ricochets it loses so much of its power. Dangerous? Sure, but bone shattering? C'mon people.

I still think it could be more useful to have a "big picture" discussion of encounters between police officers and household dogs. But it is not true that a richocheting bullet is benign, relatively speaking. People have died from being struck by a bullet that richocheted from an initial impact point far more distant than what would be the case, if it happened, at the Ellis's household premises. The most recent case that's garnered a fair amount of media attention is the death of Kate Steinle in San Fancisco (100 feet between the bullet's 2 points of impact):
http://www.mercurynews.com/immigrat...xpert-calls-fatal-shot?source=top_stories_bar

Do a simple Google search of ricochet bullet + killed or died (and one using richochet bullet + injured), and I think you will be surprised at the number and nature of injuries and deaths suffered by hapless victims.

I know from the couple of forensic ballistics classes I've had (part of my CLE when a prosecutor) that there are a lot of variables that come into play, e.g., the firearm itself; the distance between discharge and the first point of impact & then, between the point of ricochet and the victim's body; the respective angles; the nature of the surface the bullet first struck, etc. No one here, myself included, is privy to the details about the scene at the Ellis's, the nature of the little child's injury (which might shed some light on the trajectory), the conclusions that have been-will be drawn by ballistics experts . Which is why I have not opined that the child's injury IS due to a ricocheted bullet. But I am equally unwilling to presently declare that could not have possibly happened.

I never said that a ricocheting bullet is benign - in fact I still called it dangerous. Yes, bullets can ricochet. Yes, the angle and the surface from which they hit can still be deadly. In the case you cited it was off pavement - pretty hard, and if he was 100 ft away he was probably aiming pretty high/parallel to the ground (if following a combination of defence/crown reports). That would mean the angle is much slighter, meaning less velocity is lost.

In this scenario it's just so much less likley. But whatever, science will easily show either way. It's easy enough to predict exactly where a ricochet will land/hit and likely how much damage it could do.

 

[MollyMalone]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

packrat: "Training training training training training training. Unfortunately that costs money, which people aren't jumping at the chance of paying for."

Agree. But I'd like to see us, meaning USA's collective society, consider how priorities might be realigned to free up more monies for training (and more research that could help to meaningfully inform policy-making and the attendant training). E.g., I am troubled by the increasing "militarization" seen in recent years of not only local PDs, but college campus and administrative agency police/security units as well. Think a BearCat costs more than a quarter-million dollars? And could more regional training be realistically done?

 

[AGBF]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

Your query was prefaced by

I don't know how many times in this thread I have read that the child who was shot may not have been "directly shot" but "hit by a ricochet".

So the query -- If a policeman had been shot by a black teenager would anyone have written that no one knows if he was "directly shot or hit by a ricochet"? -- came across as being directed at "you people"; did not convey the point you've since said you were trying to make.

Without rancor, I explained why your belief that there is "no evidence that the officer suffered [psychologically/emotionally] at all" was mistaken. You did not acknowledge that. And despite an example in this very thread of how not knowing about something doesn't inevitably mean it did not happen, you then responded to momhappy with (boldface & caps in original)

Yup. I got this. In other words there has been NO scientific evidence of a ricochet. NONE. But there has been endless talk about it. Because people wanted to think the policeman might not have hit her with his shot. Even though the force of his bullet broke her bone. Magical thinking.

These are some of the reasons I have felt that you have not been welcoming, in this thread, of perspectives that do not entirely align with your own.

...​

Molly,

You are correct that I tied the comment about the ricochet to this thread. But not because I wanted to pin it on others more than on myself. I also saw the ricochet baloney in the news media accounts about this event. And then while writing and reading in this thread at some point It just suddenly hit me that the idea of a ricochet-suggested first by one of the Columbus papers or television stations-was outlandish. And it angered me. I didn't mean to pin it on others rather than myself. I had been buying into it too, you see. Until I had an epiphany. I don't know exactly when it hit me. But at some point I realized that everyone was repeating-in our thread-what "The Columbus Dispatch" had written. And I hadn't even questioned it! And it was bizarre!

As for the policeman suffering, yes, I did read someone say she thought he looked disoriented. So you may be right. Gypsy, also, speculated that he might have been in shock. It is possible. I will admit that. But I will not admit that he must have been in shock or had have been traumatized as some people in the press and here (I am now paraphrasing) have written. Furthermore, even if shock was the reason for his inaction following the shooting (his returning to his patrol car rather than to administer first aid, which is undisputed), I think the public should expect more from a police officer. Even if he was not at his best, he should have held it together to stanch a child's bleeding. After all, he did not sustain a wound.

AGBF

 

[AGBF]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

I just posted above without having had the chance to read today's responses from others. If my last response seems out of sync, please realize I was writing around the demands of my daughter (who wouldn't leave me alone). I will read this thread now if I can. I was not trying to ignore what all of you wrote!

Deb

 

[AGBF]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

PS-I thought I might have been really out of sync and said "raised my face" when I meant "raised my voice", but I think you misquoted me, Molly. You were probably busy at work.

Deb

 

[telephone89]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

Even if it was a ricochet, the officer still SHOT someone. It was his gun, his bullet, his finger on the trigger. Just because he missed his intended target does not mean he didn't SHOOT someone. That is what is lessening the situation. Trying to skirt around that fact.

I guess that I don't see it as trying to skirt around the fact that the officer shot someone by accident. He shot someone and that's a fact. Unfortunately, accidental shootings happen some times. Yes, it's horrifying, but it happens. It's even more horrifying when it's a young child, but again, accidents happen. My hope would be that a thorough investigation would be conducted and the officer would suffer the consequences if he did not follow police procedure/protocol.

It's (imo) skirting around the issue when instead of stating facts, people start speculating. The officer shot a person. That is really the only fact we have. He said he intended to shoot a dog. He said he missed. etc, etc. Until there is a full investigation people shouldn't be speculating and suggesting its a ricochet, or that he thought she was secretly a terrorist, or that an alien inhabited his body and shot her instead. The situation as stands - a little girl has a broken leg because an officer shot her. Everything else will come after.

 

[momhappy]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

But to me, how some one was shot is critical in determining to what degree the officer was negligent. If some one is hit because a bullet ricocheted, then that's an unfortunate accident, but if some one is hit because an officer failed to see that they were directly in the line of fire, then that's an accident that could have been avoided (with proper training, following procedure, etc.) and it indicates a high degree of negligence.
Having said that, there are plenty of other disturbing factors in this case - like whether or not the officer used excessive force by shooting at a dog, why the officer retreated to his patrol car immediately following the shooting, etc. I certainly hope that they can figure out exactly what happened and take action as needed.

 

[AGBF]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

But to me, how some one was shot is critical in determining to what degree the officer was negligent. If some one is hit because a bullet ricocheted, then that's an unfortunate accident, but if some one is hit because an officer failed to see that they were directly in the line of fire, then that's an accident that could have been avoided (with proper training, following procedure, etc.) and it indicates a high degree of negligence.

Having said that, there are plenty of other disturbing factors in this case - like whether or not the officer used excessive force by shooting at a dog, why the officer retreated to his patrol car immediately following the shooting, etc. I certainly hope that they can figure out exactly what happened and take action as needed.

The officer is back on the job. I heard on a television news video (no research done into its veracity) that the investigation was done by homicide investigators within the police department. I am assuming (with the attendant risks that come with assumption) that he was cleared if he is back on the job. I am very much open to more information on this topic.

The dog is an issue for me. I care if the dog was handled correctly. Police should not roam the countryside shooting pets without trying to get owners to take them inside first. Was this done? I don't know. The family and the officer disagree. But far more important from a purely procedural point of view is why didn't he give first aid to a shooting victim? Everyone agrees on that point.

Deb/AGBF

 

[telephone89]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

But to me, how some one was shot is critical in determining to what degree the officer was negligent. If some one is hit because a bullet ricocheted, then that's an unfortunate accident, but if some one is hit because an officer failed to see that they were directly in the line of fire, then that's an accident that could have been avoided (with proper training, following procedure, etc.) and it indicates a high degree of negligence.
Having said that, there are plenty of other disturbing factors in this case - like whether or not the officer used excessive force by shooting at a dog, why the officer retreated to his patrol car immediately following the shooting, etc. I certainly hope that they can figure out exactly what happened and take action as needed.

Ricochets can also be avoided with proper training and procedure.

But this is all semantics, and I didn't mean to single you out - just happened to be the one replying! I do agree, I hope they will figure out what happened and take appropriate action - whatever that happens to be.

 

[MollyMalone]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

I never said that a ricocheting bullet is benign - in fact I still called it dangerous. Yes, bullets can ricochet. Yes, the angle and the surface from which they hit can still be deadly. In the case you cited it was off pavement - pretty hard, and if he was 100 ft away he was probably aiming pretty high/parallel to the ground (if following a combination of defence/crown reports). That would mean the angle is much slighter, meaning less velocity is lost.

In this scenario it's just so much less likley. But whatever, science will easily show either way. It's easy enough to predict exactly where a ricochet will land/hit and likely how much damage it could do.

And I did not misrepresent you. Began by including your entire post & " benign, relatively speaking" are obviously my own words.
A post prompted by your "when a bullet ricochets it loses so much of its power. Dangerous? Sure, but bone shattering? C'mon people" -- a sweeping pronouncement that bespoke of no awareness that ricochet bullets can vary in their impact on hapless victims.

PS-I thought I might have been really out of sync and said "raised my face" when I meant "raised my voice", but I think you misquoted me, Molly. You were probably busy at work.
Deb

Yikes, that's a heckuva typing blooper, sorry about that!

I ended up coming back home because, thanks to ConEd work, there was no electricity at my office. A great opportunity to clean my apartment. A quick reply to one aspect of your other post before I return to scrubbing my bathroom:
I would swear I read yesterday that the Columbus PD turned over the files of its investigation to the local prosecutor's office a couple of weeks ago; so although Officer Thomas is back on the job, that doesn't mean he is "out of the woods" re a grand jury investigation or criminal prosecution. But darned if I can find that news report now. (I have my browser set so it clears the history, cache, and cookies upon closing)

TTFN ~ Molly

 

[momhappy]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

But to me, how some one was shot is critical in determining to what degree the officer was negligent. If some one is hit because a bullet ricocheted, then that's an unfortunate accident, but if some one is hit because an officer failed to see that they were directly in the line of fire, then that's an accident that could have been avoided (with proper training, following procedure, etc.) and it indicates a high degree of negligence.
Having said that, there are plenty of other disturbing factors in this case - like whether or not the officer used excessive force by shooting at a dog, why the officer retreated to his patrol car immediately following the shooting, etc. I certainly hope that they can figure out exactly what happened and take action as needed.

Ricochets can also be avoided with proper training and procedure.

But this is all semantics, and I didn't mean to single you out - just happened to be the one replying! I do agree, I hope they will figure out what happened and take appropriate action - whatever that happens to be.

Yes, I agree - ricochets (to some extent) can be avoided and I would assume that's part of any police training.

 

[MollyMalone]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

From doing some Internet research this evening:
* A November 2014 article from the Police magazine web site, A Use-of-Force Continuum for Dealing with Dogs
http://www.policemag.com/channel/patrol/articles/2014/11/a-use-of-force-continuum-for-dealing-with-dogs.aspx

* Training of the kind pertinent to this thread has been scanty to nonexistent. The canine-specific training offered to all officers has been typically limited to some hours of rookie training at the police academy (or whatever the local equivalent is), essentially an introduction to K9s as policing partners.

* But that is changing. A trend initially spurred, in part, by a 2008 study-report -- The Problem of Dog-Related Incidents & Encounters -- from the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) division. You can read the updated 2015 edition here:
http://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-p206-pub.pdf

* COPS also has been making available to law enforcement agencies, free of charge, a series of short, training videos that were a joint production of the Humane Society of Illinois, the Chicago PD, and the University of Illinois. You yourself can watch the videos via the links on this page:
http://cops.igpa.uillinois.edu/resources/police-dog-encounters
I saw a comment from an officer who said he thought the videos were "pretty good" and certainly better than nothing. But he wanted more comprehensive coverage of the topic with greater attention to unexpected or more volatile scenarios.

* On July 1, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed a budget bill that included a mini-bill mandating training in this area of all peace officers in the state; some background info here:
http://www.toledoblade.com/Politics/2015/04/23/Bill-emphasizes-peace-officers-canine-training.html
The Ohio budget bill is more than 2000 pages & I didn't plow through them to retrieve the pertinent provisions, but here's the Dog Protection Act from Colorado, the first state to enact such:
https://www.animallaw.info/statute/co-police-training-dog-protection-act
It seems there are bills currently in the legislative hoppers of some more states. I've not yet tracked those down, but will do so & report back for the benefit of anyone here who's interested in contacting their state legislators re a pending bill -- or to urge their lawmakers to sponsor similar legislation.

 

[AGBF]

Re: 4 Year-Old Accidentally Shot By Police Officer in Columb

Good work collecting all those sites, Molly. Thank you. It will take me some time to go through them. I just went through the first one. I thought that the advice was excellent, and I know from firsthand experience (I have a dog now and had another dog when I had to call 911 for an emergency at my home in Virginia in 200 that good police officers follow this protocol.

The first thing officers do when they arrive at my home in Connecticut (if they don't know my Newfie well) is to ask me to put my dog away somewhere. Unfortunately, due to my having a mentally ill daughter and a 95 year-old father who has become dizzy and fallen a number of times, the police know our house well. I cannot tell you how blessed we are in Greenwich, Connecticut with our police force. They are absolutely the best. Even when I was reading a novel I came across a description of them as the most courteous police force in the United States. They know us here. Often one policeman will tell another, "The dog's all right" and Griffin stays and watches the proceedings. One of the EMTs has Newfies of her own. It is really sad how well I know the police!

But I digress. The first website you cited is great. Thank you for all your work. I will continue to read throughout the day.

Deb