I wonder who is going to win this battle 100% of the time.
This past Saturday in Southeast Baltimore, near the Inner Harbor tourist area, an upper middle-class Shar-pei,a medium sized Asian breed beloved by hipsters and yuppies, escaped from its owner’s fenced yard when it found the gate ajar.
Sometime later, anxious and thirsty, the dog was approached by a female resident of the gentrified neighborhood, who unwisely put her hand to his neck, and the dog bit her hand. The lady called 911 and asked to have the dog secured for its own good. She could see that it was tagged and well cared for and conceded that she had been unwise to try and touch it.
Not long later a number of Harm City police officers were on the scene. Two officers had the dog under control, up against the fence, when one of the officers of our current breed of paramilitary buzz-cut protectors said, “I’m going to gut this thing.”
He then slit the dog’s throat from ear-to-ear.
He and the other officer are facing disciplinary action amid a public outcry from pet owners.
As for a police officer carrying a knife [which many commentators have said should not be a police weapon] I understand a tactical knife to be a useful part of a law officer’s tool kit. A holstered pistol, a tazer, mace, are all ranged weapons which take time to deploy, and are really no good for defense against serious close quarter attacks. The telescopic baton is slow to deploy, ineffective at stopping a man over welterweight, and useless in the clinch. Besides, few cops have any blunt extension weapon skill or contact experience. If a cop is grabbed I think he should have the option of cutting his way out of the situation until he can access a weapon that is not so messy.
As a primate, my negative opinion of the slaying of the dog is colored by witness accounts that the dog had been neutralized, and the fact that it was obviously a pet, not some feral pit bull munching on kids in the alley.
As a knife fighter and coach, my opinion on the supposed ‘need’ to kill this dog by using a long pressure cut to open the arteries and windpipe in the neck, is my knowledge that any knife-armed person who is in the position to slice open a throat from ear-to-ear is in a control posture. This control posture is enhanced if the knifer is larger, and this knifer was 4 to 5 times the size of the antagonist. The control posture is also enhanced when a third party is assisting, as was the case here. As a general rule, a knifer of equal physical ability as the controlled antagonist, who is in position to slice open the throat[and these positions are multiple but not vastly varied], is in also in position to maintain control.
In short, if you have a knife, and are in a position to slice the person’s or animal’s throat open with a pressure cut you don’t need to, because you have already established control. Now, if he were dealing with a 100 pound pit and the owner was beating him with a stick, and he was alone, then he should have slashed the throat of the nonhuman to even the odds.
This was not the case.
The Violence Guy’s verdict is:
Probably
Intensely
Guilty
Im not a pet lover or hipster but..this guy is a prick.
You know he was salivating over the chance to use his knife on a living thing and totally get away with it.
The incident does seem gratuitous.
1.Regarding cops carrying tactical folding knives: a police officer SHOULD carry a tactical folder, primarily as a rescue tool. Very often a cop will be the first on the scene in a situation where a citizen is entangled in some way, such that if they are not freed immediately the citizen will be killed or dismembered. Thus if the first responders on the scene don’t have a knife, they will likely be unable to free the unfortunate victim in time. Such as in the horrific case where a woman was strangled when her hijab became entangled in an escalator. dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2550111/Pictured-The-woman-killed-horror-accident-scarf-trapped-escalator.html.
As a practical matter I would recommend NEVER stating that you carry a knife for self-defense, whether you actually do or not or whether you are a cop or a civilian (or a soldier for that matter). Such a statement WILL be interpreted as a “premeditation toward violence” by our vociferously hoplophobic Liberal ruling class and will invariably be used against you in some way. Instead say you carry the knife as a “tool”, always. If you should happen to have that tool on you when you are forced to repel an assault, say a gun grab, so much the better.
2. Regarding the cop’s alleged conduct: This is incident, as described, is gratuitous and sadistic destruction of private property. Not to mention horrible public relations. Americans are extremely sentimental about their pets, so the destruction of a pet by the authorities for no compelling reason, as appears to be the case in this incident, will horrify and outrage the public. Consequently this officer has exposed his city, and by extension the city’s tax payers, to the danger of a ruinous lawsuit. I can almost see the dorsal fins circling and hear the “Jaws” theme music playing. The deep pockets of a major city are bleeding into the sea waters. The officer involved is likely to be fired as result of his action and any other community that hires him as a policeman will do so at their peril. Naturally, all suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
To amplify point 1. Marc McYoung—who is no friend of mine—when working as a bouncer, once cut an assault victim out of his shirt, which some deranged attacker could not be made to let go of. I thought that was very cool.
I agree that admitting to carrying a knife for self-defense is a terrible idea. I never carry any edged item unless it is a work tool that I will be or have been using after or before my transit. That said more people are carrying clip folders all the time. I am proud that many readers of The Logic of Steel have opted against carrying tactical knives—which is the cause of much manufacturer and enthusiast ire directed at me. I have actually stabbed and cut people and have faced years in prison for these acts. Spending months considering your judgment is more of a hell than people realize. I would rather whack away with a rolled up magazine. I also note ground litter and will use that. I used a large nail grabbed out of the gutter on a guy once.
To update the slaying of the dog: A rally is being held, with the dog as a four-legged Jesus-style martyr of pet kind. Extensive ghetto cruelty to pitbulls in Baltimore, which has also resulted in terrible facial attacks on children, has put in place a defense network for abused pets that features NFL, MMA and MLB stars posing with rescued animals. I really feel for the lady who lost her dog, and have judged the cop harshly. However, I have fought stray and feral and abused dogs in the streets of Baltimore, and have been chewed up on occasion. There is something about being circled by a pack of snarling canines that prevents me from getting behind this pet's rights movement, particularly in light of the fact that no one seems to give a damn about the guy that was found shot in a stairwell last night. There is no lone male murder victim defense league to even come close to the domestic muscle that is being flexed on behalf of this butchered dog.
And yes, even though I regard the Baltimore City Police as me enemy, as I do the County police force, based on their harassment of me for being a lone white pedestrian in majority black areas, something galls me that this cop—who appears to be a pet owner himself and may have just been screwing up on a one-time basis—is being gone after by a league of feminist witchhunters, where the teen age boys who routinely set their dogs on fire, and the 'oppressed' criminals who snatch a dog from the yards in my neighborhood every week to use as bait for their pitbulls, are not targeted at all. This cop, who yes, seems to have made a gross and probably malicious error one time, is being targeted from all corners. But the punks who grab dogs like this multiple times a day from city yards to have them killed in the most terrible ways, are just seen as victims.
It smells fishy from here too.
In the interest of full disclosure I must confess that in spite of my advice I still carry a tactical folder, for food preparation and in case my hijab becomes entangled in an escalator. Plus my region of the country is more tolerant of civilian possession of implements like knives and guns than the Harm City / DC megalopolis is. Our state’s concealed carry permit even allows one to carry knives and batons as well as handguns. Nevertheless, one should keep in mind that even in “red” states the courts of law are generally administered by “blue” people. People who are creeped-out by knives. They are especially creeped-out by white people with knives (very atavistic!) and hold white people to a higher standard of conduct. So be advised when tempted to make edgy jokes, no matter what your ethnicity.
Yes the animal lovers are quite a well-organized and influential lobby, aren’t they? I am reminded of the story of Marine General Chesty Puller when he was tasked to evaluate the Marine Corps’ war dog program following World War II and make recommendations for its employment in future conflicts. Chesty recommended that Doberman Pinschers be excluded from future war dog programs because in his experience they were too high strung to endure shell fire and frequently turned on their handlers as a result. He was quickly confronted by the national Doberman society which protested his finding to Washington and attempted to browbeat him into changing his report. Puller stuck to his guns and refused. Despite the considerable pressure, the USMC Commandant backed him up on his decision or at least didn’t order him to change anything (would that happen today?). Afterward Chesty told his aides, “I knew we had many minorities in our country, and that some were powerful indeed- but not until now did I realize that the damned Doberman Pinschers had organized, and were ready to take over at any moment.” From “Marine” by Burke Davis.
Now I like Chesty Puller even more.
That is an ominously medieval note about blue judiciary in red states. Would we equate those officials to European aristocrats or Chinese mandarins?
Back here in Baltimore, grocery clerks have been arrested and locked away for the weekend for carrying their box cutter home. I am amazed at how many people are demanding that they have 'a right' to carry a knife in Maryland. I was at a martial arts school this weekend where everybody was packing at least one knife. The head instructor tried to say it was legal to carry knives in Baltimore. Most of the cops I talk to have no idea what their municipal code or the state one, prohibits, and just make judgment calls. I'm okay with that since
I'm not their commander or the State's Attorney trying to build stats. As a civilian I just can't see taking that legal risk.
I just told them that the last time I checked the Annotated Code of Maryland [albeit 15 years ago, but Maryland does not have a history of repealing laws. We still have ground rent in Baltimore, which was instituted in the 17th Century.] that the carrying of any edged object was a minor offense, with the carrying of certain blades like a 'dirk' specifically prohibited.
Ever single time I have had a vagrant or shoplifter removed from property I managed by the cops they confiscated any knife and did not bag it, but added it to their trophy knife collection. I once split a catch of knives I confiscated with the responding officer—and he took the best one! Realistically, if you are not suspected of a crime, that knife is just going to be confiscated. But, if you backtalk that cop, and it's Friday, you just might end up spending the weekend in jail until the court commissioner throws your charge out.
Here's to 'white people with knives' Jeremy.
Hmmm…European Aristocrats or Chinese Mandarins? Which one does our “blue” judicial aristocracy resemble the most? That is a darn good question and begs for further study! Although on first face our blue aristocracy seems to possess characteristics identified with both groups. Like the European aristocrats, they frequently speak a different “language” than their subjects and have different beliefs and values, and like the Chinese Mandarins, they are inclined to believe they rule by the “Mandate of Heaven” rather than the consent of the governed (although they understand it is impolitic to say so publically). Certainly they find the employment of any violence even in self-defense to be distasteful at best and believe that civilian gun ownership is nothing but a dangerous nuisance. So they are of course embarrassed by our state’s constitutional guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms and by its “shall issue” concealed carry permit law (initiatives supported by overwhelming majorities among the unwashed masses). And like I said, they are creeped-out by knives. If you should happen to display one in their presence they are likely to grimace and say “I don’t like knives”. Like what does that have to do with anything? But then again they are the aristocrat whose favor we seek, so we must care how they feel about such things (like they say, “you WILL be made to care!”).
Yes, big city cops across the land have a propensity for confiscating any property they find objectionable. In my area the big city cops are prone to seize any and all guns they encounter on a call. Even if they impounded your guns because you happened to have them in your car when you got into in a wreck and had to be evacuated to a hospital, the police and the court commissioners will still stonewall you and make you jump through vexatious bureaucratic hoops when you try to get your guns back. Frequently you will have to hire a lawyer to force the police to surrender your guns and that of course can cost more than the guns might be worth. Needless to say, many people will just give up in the face of such resistance and simply buy new guns to replace the ones that were confiscated. That is unless of course the gun or guns seized happen to be a collector piece or an heirloom with sentimental value. To add injury to the insult the police will frequently deface any guns held in evidence in a self-defense shooting by painting inventory numbers on them with an indelible paint.
But man!.. you Harm City denizens sound particularly oppressed! Almost sounds like you never separated from the colonial mother country.
thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4876601/Sun-investigation-girl-buys-knives-swords-and-machetes.html
idontcarryaknife.org
One of my ancestors came over on the boat with Lord Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Baltimore as a slave; rebranded Irish livestock! 350 years later I signed for a mortgage note on a house and had to pay $60 ground rent a year, which was left over protection money from that 17th Century racket....
The gun confiscation thing is not surprising, but is a hell of a lot more expensive than me losing a $3 gas station folder. State fear of firearms is understandable on a rational immoral basis. On the other hand, our ruling class being creeped out by knives is more primordial. They are feminists Jeremy, every swishing suited one of them, and the knife is a terminal phallic symbol. 2000 years ago Manlius Man-butcher did not sheathe his gladius, rather he slammed it into its vagina.
The distaff wannabes of our dystopia cannot easily shrug off the stabbing weapon as a right wing political football, because it hits too close to home.
Are you people still allowed to wear those right wing John Wayne hats out there? Couldn't those anachronistic sunshades interfere with my Dark Lord's drones scanning your red state retinas?
Well James, thus far we haven’t suffered any restrictions on the type of headdress we are allowed to wear. So I must imagine the government is able to track our movements well enough through the ATMs and gas pumps, such that they don’t consider it necessary to cut the brims off our hats. Not yet at least.
At this juncture I suppose we should point out that edged weapons are protected by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as well as firearms are. Or at least ought to be in as much as the Constitution is observed these days. So like Samuel Whitmore, when the Redcoats come you can turn out with musket, dueling pistols AND sword.
Amen.
I might be pretty lonely though. We are about to get a GPS mileage tax in Maryland and few seem to care. We already have a rain tax that recently passed with nary a gasp.
If they come out with a pedestrian mileage tax I think I will start carrying my old Othello gravity blade again.