Humane issues not withstanding, the situation was a no-brainer: The deer had to be put out of its misery before it caused a traffic accident.
Ours is a profession that places emphasis on saying what we mean and meaning what we say. However, what we say and what we mean can be wildly divergent in the minds of our audience. What follows are some cautionary tales about using ambiguous wording.
Example Three: Cops ask a resident if she minds if they search a bedroom.“No problem,” she says.The search is conducted and evidence seized, only to be suppressed at trial. The reason? The person that granted permission had no legal standing to do so.
When asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton replied, "Because that's where the money is."
If someone were to ask a cop why he conducts patrol checks of motel parking lots, he might very well reply, "Because that's where the dirtbags are."
One of the most widely recognized banes of the job among good cops is other cops’ inability or unwillingness to do their jobs. And nowhere is that inability and unwillingness more manifest than in that age-old ritual known as the "kiss off."
There are times when the information provided is too simplistic. While descending on a suspect who was hellbent on taking out his girlfriend and her family with an AK-47, we were advised that the suspect was "on the right side of the girlfriend’s house." Without a "You Are Here" marker painted on the street, we couldn't tell if it was the right side when facing the house or the right side when looking out of it.
Reasons for sound-proofing our approaches are myriad. Domestic calls are notoriously dangerous, with over half of the officers who die on such calls killed upon approach. One way to counter this danger is to make your approach in stealth mode.
The average criminal offender will do just about anything to avoid contact, detention, or ultimate arrest.