Good Thread!!!
I never saw an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter before I trained and got certified as an FRA myself. When talking with Agent X one day, he surprised me when he said he watches every episode. I was incredulous, but he explained there are some good things to learn from the show, and some that are teaching moments of what NOT to do! After that conversation, I started watching and see what he meant.
One of the shows I saw was of this particular incident. I know somebody else posted a link to the story in Huffington Post, but I'd like to offer a second link about the story. WARNING! The Mesa County Sheriff uses language in much the same way as I do! LOL!
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles ... lkey_rips/ That one is from the local paper in Grand Junction.
Now as to the incident!
They had cooperation from the driver, who was helping set up the fugitive. They knew in advance of her coming. Why not ask local LEO for a civil assist?
Shooting pepper balls at the vehicle was excessive. They had plenty of boots on the ground to surround the vehicle and take the fugitive without any such dramatic display.
With the driver removed and cuffed (for dramatic effect), they really didn't need to pull open the door and blast the fugitive! This had the entertaining effect of affecting their own agents, who are seen in the aftermath trying to clear their own eyes of pepper powder.
My personal perspective is that the situation was handled in a reckless fashion. Failure to decontaminate him was sloppy and negligent. Using pepper balls fired from a gas operated weapon unnecessary in the situation. The team escalated use of force to high level right out of the chute rather than the progressive scale of force as required under POST training required for all FRAs certified in Colorado.
With the cooperation of the young lady who drove him to his capture, I'd have asked for civil assist from local law enforcement. Let them be the display of force, while the fugitive is taken without all that fuss. But my approach wouldn't have made dramatic viewing.
Or, like the good sheriff of Mesa County said in his remarks;
“genuine profit-driven peacockery.”
I also loved the sheriff's comment about Dog:
“During the scuffle the skip was pepper-sprayed excessively and Dog conveniently had his tear-away shirt ripped off, all the time the action cameras were rolling and everyone was salivating in the drama ... “
That's why the capture went down as it did. Good viewing.
My critique ends with the observation that incidents like this only make life tougher for genuinely hard working Fugitive Recovery Agents who must deal with public perceptions raised by this balony!
Then again, what do I know. I've been in this business for about 5 minutes now!
Mel
