Mark.Levy@svherald.com Sierra Vista Police Department Corp. Mike Mitchell stands with his Belgium Malinois “Bones” during Thursday’s brief ceremony at the station. Bones’s new protective vest was made possible by a donation from a Tucson resident.
Posted on 04/07/2014 3:51:29 PM PDT by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA — Sierra Vista K-9 Officers Bones and Izzy will be outfitted with life saving bullet- and stab-proof vests, complete with their own department patch, thanks to Tucson-based Protect Police K-9 (PPK-9) and a generous, anonymous Sierra Vista donor.
“Police dogs are working officers, just like their two-legged counterparts,” says Lawrence Boutte, Sierra Vista lieutenant. “They are trained to ‘serve and protect’ and will put their lives on the line while on duty. These vest will help keep them safe in the field.”
PPK-9 founder Michael Valdez started his business with a mission to help all Arizona police dogs get equipped with bullet-and-stab-proof vests after hearing about Dax, a Tucson Police K-9, who was shot while chasing a suspect. With the help of generous caring donors, PPK-9 has provided life saving vests with a price tag of $825 each to police departments throughout Arizona. For more information on this non-profit organization helping to save K-9 officers one vest at a time, visit http://www.protectpolicek-9.com/.
Part of the issue of all this tacticool stuff is that how you choose to present yourself determines who you are. And far too many cops now cultivate the Mabry SEAL bad ass look. Then surprise surprise they act like bored bouncers.
Cops need to stop trying to look like an occupying army, and return to professional looking CIVILIAN police, and act like it.
Is it really so much to as that we get a few more Andy Taylors, and a lot less Bufford T Justices and action hero wannabes?
Damon autocorrect.
Mabry = Navy
If somene is acting like an occupier then their sgt should put them in check.
As far as the officer in this article is concerned...he is a k9 handlermwho has tk climb and hop fences and buildings and crawl under houses and run through sticker bushes..he isnt going to be wearing wool pants and wearing a dress uniform.
He is going t ok be wearing a jump suit for sure.
What I see on his uniform is a remote control to pop open the back door of his patrol car to let his partner out, 810, a lapel panda on personal video camera that everybody seems to think police officer should be wearing and some nick nax
“If somene is acting like an occupier then their sgt should put them in check.”
Problem is that either the department controls that crap right from the start, or embraces it. This kind of crap is usually department based. There was an article I read a few months ago, here I think.
Two police department recruiting videos. One had civilian style tailored uniforms, talk of community and service, and the only gun you saw was in a traditional belt holster.
The other video, was all slapping magazines into weapons, pumping a round into a shotgun, strapping up armor, and every other bad ass thing you could think of. It was enough to give a SEAL a hard on.
Only a fool would not know what that would appeal to, every high school bully and thrill seeker in the area. And from the outside looking in, that is replacing the peace officer mentality of the first town.
We don’t see a lot of departments going from Rambo crazy assholes to Maybarry, but more and more Maybarries are turning into thug departments. A lot of former cops here comment on it.
LE needs to take a step back and look from the outside as two what image and attitude they are showing. A cop said it best to another cop who saw no issues.
“When a lot of people were actively listening to and rooting for that Dorner nut, that’s a sign that maybe we need to step back and see what we are doing wrong.”
He at least got it that to the general public, he no longer looked like a hero simply for being a cop.
There are plenty of retards getting hired who cannot or do not know how to talk to the general public.
I was in sales for years before I got this job so I have no problem talking to folks.....good folks and dirtbags.
I would caution you however to take what you see in the news and on YouTube for what it is.....sensationalism designed to elicit emotional responses within us so as to generate sales of whatever product that media outlet is selling or to oush an agenda.
I think we have WAY more problems with too many laws which is a reflection of the fact that government has way to much power and sway over our lives. It is easy to point to the police because the police are the armed and uniformed agents of the government (at least than is how they are viewed) .
I prefer to view the police as the armed extension of the public’s mutual agreement on an ordered civil society.
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