VIDEO: Alderman Gets Taken Down By Police Dog
Mathew Silverman volunteered to put on a full body suit and be attacked by a German shepherd as part of demonstration of the police's K-9 unit for National Night Out.
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The Annapolis Police Department owns several dogs that officers train to sniff out bombs and drugs, and find missing persons—and even occasionally take down city officials.
Alderman Mathew Silverman (D-5th Ward) volunteered to don a full body suit Tuesday night and become Rexo's—the department's 2-year-old German shepherd—unlucky victim.
The takedown was part of a K-9 unit demonstration during the police's National Night Out at Annapolis Gardens Community.
Rexo chased Silverman down and didn't let go until officers could move in to make an "arrest."
Silverman said even with all the suit's padding, being taken down still hurts.
Sonia Dasgupta
8:12 pm on Wednesday, August 8, 2012
That's pretty scary!
Lisa Williams Sears
2:51 pm on Thursday, August 9, 2012
agree, sonia!! scary, but so professional!! i love k-9's.
Mike
4:40 am on Saturday, August 11, 2012
So...what was the point of this "demonstration" again?
Why not show a policeman following procedure by subduing someone with baton blows also? Or shooting someone playing the role of perpetrator, but wearing a bulletproof vest. Seriously, ask yourself these questions honestly. It isn't against procedure, is similarly informative, and is no different other than that a person, rather than a dog, is providing the force.
Further, ask how the target location/audience was selected for this demonstration, and why?
Don't misunderstand me--an orchestrated campaign of K-9 units against most of our politicians is something I'd heartily support. But what was the point of THIS demonstration of force?
Lisa Williams Sears
9:11 pm on Sunday, August 12, 2012
Mike~i have personally seen this k-9 demonstration done several times myself. i can assure you, i dont live in Annapolis Gardens. it is done at the Seafood Festival. it is done with the D.A.R.E programs. this time it was Annapolis Gardens. National Night out is not a occassion to bash and isolate the community from the police. it is a time of awareness and building confidences in the community. it is a wonderful opportunity for the law enforcement agencies that police those areas to reach out to the young children. children and teens are often intimidated by police officers. this is a time to make friendly contact. i am always suspicious of those that call the police department out, for doing something wonderful in that community. try to remember. the police are also there to protect them/YOU. it is important that those children know that. you need to stand behind these police officers and their mission. i thought they did a great job. maybe i should be upset that they didnt to this demonstration in my neighborhood. why didnt we get a free cook-out? we are law abiding. see where i am going with this? dont be ridiculous.
Mike
10:47 pm on Sunday, August 12, 2012
Lisa, the choice of venue is only one question. I don't know where else it's done and thank you for the data. And I don't doubt the good intentions of most police. Like any group, there are good and bad, most are good, and my limited but interesting experiences with city police over many years have reflected just that.
And the folks who actually show up and give the demonstration are probably great with the people they meet.
And I don't claim to know what went on aside from the demonstration.
All that said, I don't care for the show of force, why not skip that part? Perhaps someone thinks it's a nice hook to get attention, but I stand by my question about what the point is. Even well-intentioned, it's a bit vulgar in my view, no different from showing how police might subdue someone with a demonstration of tasing, baton blows or a gunshot. There are better ways to meet with the community than with a demonstration of violent force. I suspect the officers do a great job with the rest of the effort, but this part should go, in my view.
Take a close look at the video--watch the body language and facial expressions of the young kids. What impression does it make on them? If that's the first time they've seen police up close, I don't think it's the best choice of introduction.
And I ask my unanswered question again, how is this different from a demonstration of proper procedural tasing, baton-blows, or shooting a service weapon?
Regards,
Mike
Mike
10:57 pm on Sunday, August 12, 2012
And Lisa,
Regarding "try to remember. the police are also there to protect them/YOU."
Just what is that supposed to mean, really? Where have I shown any misunderstanding of the purpose of the police force? I am trying to suggest ways of having the police and community become closer and work together, to build trust and make our communities better places. The notion of outreach works for me--I think this demonstration may undermine efforts to do exactly what you cite as the point: increasing "awareness and building confidences in the community."
Seeing a police dog latched onto someone who does not resist, with several officers seemingly unable to pry the dog off the non-resisting, subdued person lying on the ground? It doesn't inspire a great deal of trust, as the rest of the outreach likely does. Try to explain to a 4-year-old how and when that use of force makes sense, and the difficulty of the police to get the dog off the subject.
I think it's the wrong demonstration to build the very trust and cooperation I want to see increase.
Regards,
Mike
Lisa Williams Sears
11:22 pm on Sunday, August 12, 2012
you are the one, who was asking about, "why this particular neighborhood, to demonstrate, a k-9. i simply was responding, that the public is generally very interested in seeing these tactics, involving the k-9. are you suggesting, that law enforcement should have demonstrated, tasing, shooting service weapons ect, because they are also tactics the police use, to subdue a person?? i think you are picking on the police department. you are suggesting that the police demonstrate how they "beat someone with a baton, after the suspect is basically already restrained by the k-9. that is what your post reads. you need to come up with very specific ideas to accomplish what it is you are proposing. i believe the police department are doing a great job by the ppl of annapolis gardens. i believe their hearts are in the right place.
Mike
12:27 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
Lisa, yes, I ASKED why this particular neighborhood. So what? I don't see your point. It's no secret that some neighborhoods have different amounts of call for police. While I would not be surprised if this is a neighborhood where the city police would like to improve relations through outreach, I think this sort of demonstration is counter-productive, undermining the rest of the outreach.
RE: "are you suggesting, that law enforcement should have demonstrated, tasing, shooting service weapons ect, because they are also tactics the police use, to subdue a person?? " No, Lisa, I am not suggesting any such thing. I am suggesting that demonstrations of the most violent uses of necessary police force (such as loosing a dog on a suspect, tasing, subduing someone with baton blows, shooting someone) are not the best demonstrations to perform in front of small children as part of outreach.
RE: "i think you are picking on the police department. you are suggesting that the police demonstrate how they "beat someone with a baton, after the suspect is basically already restrained by the k-9. that is what your post reads." Lisa, my post says nothing of the sort, please re-read it more closely. I am not "picking on" them, but rather furnishing constructive feedback about what makes sense in outreach and what does not. Further, you have ENTIRELY FABRICATED the false quote about beating someone after subduing them. Don't misquote me. I said NOTHING of the sort.
Mike
12:36 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
RATHER, what I ASKED was:
"Why not show a policeman following procedure by subduing someone with baton blows also? Or shooting someone playing the role of perpetrator, but wearing a bulletproof vest. Seriously, ask yourself these questions honestly. It isn't against procedure, is similarly informative, and is no different other than that a person, rather than a dog, is providing the force."
"Even well-intentioned, it's a bit vulgar in my view, no different from showing how police might subdue someone with a demonstration of tasing, baton blows or a gunshot."
I also noted that "Seeing a police dog latched onto someone who does not resist, with several officers seemingly unable to pry the dog off the non-resisting, subdued person lying on the ground? It doesn't inspire a great deal of trust."
Nowhere in any of those will you find me suggesting what you claimed, aka ""beat someone with a baton, after the suspect is basically already restrained by the k-9" These words are YOURS and YOURS ALONE. Get mine right.
I am trying to help community relationships with the police. That inherently includes being honest about what works and what doesn't in their outreach. It's feedback. So please accept it for what it is, stop making incorrect inferences, and absolutely stop misquoting me.
I am working for ever better community/police relations. Shows of force risk promoting a very unhealthy "us vs. them" mentality.
Sincerely,
Mike
Mike
12:44 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
Lisa,
Last, I want to be clear on something else that it sounds like you didn't follow. Examine these two quotes, that I did write:
"Why not show a policeman following procedure by subduing someone with baton blows also? Or shooting someone playing the role of perpetrator, but wearing a bulletproof vest. Seriously, ask yourself these questions honestly. It isn't against procedure, is similarly informative, and is no different other than that a person, rather than a dog, is providing the force."
"Even well-intentioned, it's a bit vulgar in my view, no different from showing how police might subdue someone with a demonstration of tasing, baton blows or a gunshot."
These quotes are not advocating the police add such shows of force to outreach demonstrations. Rather, I assume nearly everyone would agree these are inappropriate for small children to see. For similar reasons, the K-9 demonstration is inappropriate in my view. Young children are not going to have an easy time understanding under what circumstances police would rightly employ these tactics as necessary force. Instead, they will just see police loose a dog on someone, and (watch the video) have a little trouble getting the dog back off of him, even after he is subdued.
Not the right thing with which to confuse the very young. (Not good for their understanding of what to think of dogs generally either, but I digress.)
Please understand this is meant to be constructive feedback.
Mike