That’s just my two cents.

Suppose you are a cop with only about 1 yr experience and you see a vehicle going 95 mph and swerving across 3 lanes of traffic. You chase the car and pull him over, but he stops on an overpass with a very narrow shoulder. On your loud speaker you tell the driver to pull forward off the overpass. Instead of pulling forward the driver takes off down the road. You take up the chase again and the car finally pulls off the interstate a couple of exits down.

Let me ask everyone something. What do you think your thoughts would be at this point? Did these guys just hold up a convieniece store? Are they going to jump out of the car with guns blazing? Do you think that your adrenelin might be pump up a little? One thing I bet you wouldn’t is that there must be a sick doggie in that car.

Most of you are very good a being a Monday morning QB, but most of you under the same circumstances would not of done things much differently. Were some of Officer Stephens comments unsensitive? Yes. Most of that is because of inexperience.

Since I have to drive these same roads, I’m glad Officer Stephens is out there.

Anyone who doesn’t respect life, ALL LIFE, should never, ever be placed in a position of authority where they can determine what life should be deemed important and what life is expendable. Everyone defending officer Paul Stephens keeps saying the driver’s action could have caused a death, but seem to be overlooking the fact that the police officer’s actions DID cause a death!

Anyone who loved their pet would be hysterical in that situation. The police officer should know this and be able to handle it properly. Anyone who would make or defend the quote “It’s just a dog, you can get another one,” doesn’t care very much for humans or animals and thinks of pets as mere possesions like a cd player or cell phone. What if he were ever placed with a K-9 unit? Would he think of the police dogs in this way? Remember, this is one of the people sworn to protect and serve you.

He stopped the car to keep the driver from causing an accident, but then decided that the circumstances didn’t matter to him beyond that point and let an innocent creature die for no reason when he could have, and was SUPPOSED TO do something to save Missy. In other words, he didn’t do the job he’s paid to do. And when you’re a cop, that’s a big deal!

I just have to wonder, if it had been the mayor’s or police chief’s dog that died, if the officer would just be getting an “oral reprimand,” on the clock, at taxpayer expense, at his hourly rate of pay. What a punishment!

Hey Paul… it’s just a job. You can get another one.

Yes, the speeder was wrong, but being a police officer myself, I am upset and embarrassed by his lack of compassion for people, so clearly in a panic situation. We often get a bad wrap for being bullies, pigs, on power trips, cheating spouses, dumb jocks, and all around jerks. He exemplified this in his behavior and unfortunately, there are several of us out there that do have those awful characteristics.

I cannot believe he asked if the guy was on something. What a jackass. That was the perfect example of a cop on a power trip who could clearly see a man in a weakened state and rather than help, pounced. On paper, those police officers may look good, but in reality, they are the men and women who give us a bad name.

He was forceful in telling the speeder to calm down – easily said when you’re the one holding the gun and being aggressive. His handling of the situation was inexcusable and I can only hope and pray that he will not last very long on the force (and never be in a position of power again). It goes well beyond having poor judgment; it shows very little skill, sensitivity, and is making me think he is simply not a good person.

We have a lot of things that come up everyday. This could have been handled positively and we are not always offered an opportunity to help people like this. Yes, the speeder should have used better judgment – ABSOLUTELY, the so-called “law professional” should have reacted differently (especially given the fact that this was not a drunk, drugged up, or violent speeder which could have potentially had a far worse outcome for Officer Stephens). I hope the K9 officers give him an earful.

Not all cops are like Officer Stephens. There are sympathetic ones out there and I am one of them.

A vehicle traveling at 100 mph down an interstate highway shortly after midnight is going to bring attention to itself no matter what city they are recklessly driving through. Phone calls were made to the 911 emergency operations center about the reckless vehicle, possible DWI suspect, with many unknowns involved. Officer Paul Stephens, along with other responsible San Marcos police officers, intercepted the erratic vehicle and began a 5 mile pursuit before the vehicle finally stopped near Centerpoint road. The vehicle crossed all three lanes of traffic multiple times, around 18 wheelers, drove on the shoulder of the road, and around construction signs before finally pulling over a second time. The end of the pursuit eliminated further danger the reckless driver was causing the citizens of San Marcos and those motorist passing through.

Officer Stephens is a combat veteran having served in Iraq and is well trained with the police department. He knows that the percentage of officers killed or injured greatly increases in the hours of darkness on the night shift (1), where most new officers start out. He also knows that vehicles, traffic stops, and pursuits contribute to a high number of line of duty assaults and deaths for officers. In the back of his mind he also knows that 140 peace officers were killed in the line of duty in 2007, and with over half of those that were killed feloniously, their deaths occurred in the southern states.(2)

Stephen’s approached the vehicle with the mindset of officer survival, with his hand on this gun ready for the many dangerous threats and possibilities. Is the driver armed? Is the driver fleeing a crime? Am I going to be shot? Why is the driver flailing his arms at me? What other threat am I missing? The driver’s first words spoken may not be completely audible in the digital video recording, but they are “SHE’S DEAD!! SHE’S DEAD!!”.

Now I ask you to put yourself in officer Stephen’s now perspiration soaked body armor. You have just been in a chase with an unknown suspect at 12:30AM at speeds up to 100 mph. You have seen combat in Iraq and know what the words “Dead” indicate. You don’t know if the suspect is armed or why they are fleeing the police, and you are trained to think and survive the worse case scenarios. What would “She’s DEAD!” mean to you? It means there is a dead body in the car.

Imagine the RELIEF Stephen’s felt when he realized he was not dealing with a dead human body, not a dead baby girl, but a dead dog. His comment of “It’s just a dog” may seem insensitive, and those words were better thought than spoken, but it was a comment of relief that all those other more dangerous and horrible possibilities were no longer relevant. As a combat and police veteran myself, the shouts of ”She’s Dead!” have a very literal human meaning and bring back some memories I would rather forget.

The media captivated and capitalized on those 4 words spoken by Stephen’s, took them out of context, and initially disregarded the second in car camera provided by Officer Joyce Bender of the passenger side of the stopped vehicle. Officer Bender immediately cradled the dog, attempted to clear the airway, and made the accurate determination the dog was in fact deceased. This action was taken within minutes of the second and final vehicle stop. The news media would have you believe that the pursuit and subsequent stop CAUSED the death of the animal. Fox news reported the death was “subsequent” to the police stop. This is simply not true.

As an animal lover myself with horses, dogs, goats, and some occasional barn cats, I sympathize with the Gonzalez family in the loss of their pet. My family also suffered the recent sudden loss of a pet. The clinic the Gonzalez’s were traveling to in New Braunfels was 15 miles away from where they finally pulled over. It would have been nothing short of miraculous for them to continue on with triple digit speeds and arrive safely at the clinic, especially with the emotional state of the driver, which Officer Stephen’s points out. It also would have been in vain.

It was responsible for the police department to pursue and stop the reckless driver. It was responsible for the police to investigate the circumstances surrounding the high speed pursuit. Back up officers acted responsibly in assessing the condition of the dog and did in fact determine the dog was already dead. With nothing more that could be done for the dog, it was responsible to issue a traffic citation although with the current media frenzy, I doubt any fines will be assessed. Officer’s Stephen’s remarks were better thought than said but brought to light his relief that the situation was not more serious.

In the end the news media got their headlines, the Gonzales family is getting their attention, and the police are again unjustly portrayed as the bad guys. Oprah will play on the emotions of animal lovers, broadcast the officer’s comments out of context, and portray the police as the villains. Imagine what would have happened if the Gonzales family was allowed to continue at speed, with or without escort, and had caused another tragedy possibly involving you or someone in your family.

Most progressive police departments such as the San Marcos police department have a “Citizen’s police academy” which I strongly recommend all San Marcos citizens attend. Before you jump to conclusions based on irresponsible, emotional, out of context reporting, attend the citizen’s police academy and learn the full pot-pourri of multitasking challenges and dangers modern day law enforcement officers face every day.

Dan Misiaszek

(1) – Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) FBI annual publication
(2) – 2007 Uniform Crime Reporting Program’s annual report FBI UCR

The problem here is the cops forget who pays their miserable salaries and maybe half these cops should consider military careers instead of public service. This one like many was defiantly not serving the public