For some cops, the glock solves almost all of their problems.
For some cops, the glock solves almost all of their problems. Kai19/www.shutterstock.com

On July 13, officer Michael Cruse of the Topeka Police Department in Kansas arrived at the home of Harriette and James Macnish for an alarm check. He walked to the back of the house, looked through a window, and saw nothing. He took a few steps toward French doors and heard a dog barking. The dog appeared from the backyard. It was small. It teared toward him. He shot it two times; the dog whimpered, wobbled, and collapsed. The dog’s owner, Harriette Macnish, appeared almost immediately after the shots were fired, was informed of what had just happened, expressed disbelief that the dog presented a real danger to the officer, walked to her dying pet, fell on her knees, and tried to comfort it.

In Cruse's police report (PDF), he states that he tried to "place time and distance" between him and the animal by "running" from it. But the dog "continued to aggressively run" toward him "barking and growling." But the video from his bodycam does not really show him making much of an effort to distance himself from the dog, and though there's barking, there's nothing that sounds like growling. What I hear are about four or five barks before the pet yelps in pain from being shot.

What the video reveals is that, for some cops, the gun solves a wide range of problems. It took Cruse only a few seconds to decide that lethal force was his only solution. In fact, it was not really a decision; he simply saw the dog, took a few steps back, pulled out his gun, and the problem was solved.

Statements in the video and statements in the police report also reveal this widespread flaw in American policing: Many cops operate with the idea that what comes first in their work is their own safety. But, if they were doing their job correctly, the safety of the community would be their top priority, and using force would be a last resort.

Police work is not safe work. It has risks. (Although it is far from being the deadliest job. Animal care workers and construction workers have more dangerous jobs than police officers.) So, if you are a man or woman who places supreme value on your personal safety, then it is best to find a job that corresponds with that kind of self-valuation. What use is a firefighter who worries about his or her safety first? Or a soldier? Indeed, the safety of others, even a suspected criminal, is supposed to be of greater importance than the safety of an officer. This is how police work is supposed to be done. The public should not be paying officers to worry about their safety and shoot guns at each and every crisis.