A bouquet – the Old Shep Has a Wonderful Home award – to Stryker, the Oceanside police dog killed during a surreal chain of events New Year's Eve on the San Diego-Coronado Bridge.
In a scene right out of an action movie, the Belgian Malinois was ordered to knock down and detain Cory Bryan, a drunken-driving suspect who'd led police on an hourlong pursuit from Oceanside to the bridge.
In a horrific deviation from the police game plan, Bryan leaped into the bay below, taking Stryker with him.
Bryan defied the odds and survived; Stryker died.
Leaving aside the tactical question of whether Stryker should have been deployed under those circumstances, the death of a dog in the line of police duty creates an unusual challenge for a department.
To a civilian, it's probably hard to understand the bond between officer and canine partner. As is often said, these officers spend more time with their dogs than they do with their families.
Formal funeral arrangements are being contemplated for Stryker. In doing so, Oceanside is looking to the similar experience of the Long Beach Police Department for guidance.
Three years ago, a K-9 dog named Ranger was shot to death during a chaotic Long Beach SWAT operation in which a criminal suspect also died. Video footage of an officer carrying his fatally wounded partner away from the scene tugged at the heartstrings of TV viewers.
At the ceremony for Ranger – and another trained Malinois that coincidentally had died by accident around the same time – 750 people paid their respects to the dogs, including 120 K-9 officers and their loyal furry partners who'd come from other departments in California and Nevada.
At one point in the ceremony, the dogs barked and howled on command.
Some will argue, of course, that an elaborate funeral service is too much hullabaloo, especially if even one tax dollar is spent.
Their point should be taken for what it's worth.
Striking the right balance for Stryker does seem important. A dignified remembrance, but not extravagant. The cost to taxpayers, if any, should be very modest.
At the same time, we shouldn't discount the depth of feelings evoked by the death of a police dog doing its duty.
Witness must be made. Tears must be shed.
A brick – the Crooked Wheel of Misfortune award – to the lying driver (and he/she knows who he/she is) in the horrible traffic accident that killed four people Dec. 14 on state Route 76.
It's bizarre, but California Highway Patrol officers, after initially concluding that the man was driving, are now apparently uncertain who was at the wheel of the GMC Yukon that hit a guardrail and veered into oncoming traffic, hitting a Toyota Camry carrying four people, none of whom survived.
In the ultimate he-said-she-said, the two survivors in the Yukon – James Boles, 24, and Deanna Fridley, 23 – are both pointing the finger of blame at the other.
Neither Boles nor Fridley possessed a valid driver's license. (Boles is accused of having methamphetamine in his sock.)
One of them is a bald-faced liar as well as a criminally reckless driver.
May he/she get the exposure he/she deserves.
A bouquet – the We're in the Money! award – to the county's $8.4 billion pension fund for its run of good grades, the latest being a AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor's.
Unlike the city of San Diego's pension fund, the county's appears to be in solid shape despite boosting benefits in 2002 – and suffering a relatively minor PR hiccup with a failed hedge fund.
When reporting to its 35,000 eligible employees, the county's conscience appears to be clear. However . .
A soft (very soft) brick – the Unconscious Typo award – to E-Slate, Supervisor Pam Slater-Price's online newsletter, for a headline above an item alerting constituents to Jan. 25, a one-time amnesty day for those holding overdue county library books and CDs. That's right. All fines will be waived.
Above the information is the following headline: “Clear Your Conscious, Return That (Really) Overdue Book.”
At first reading, it sounds as if you might have to drop by the Self-Realization Fellowship before returning your overdue book.
Logan Jenkins: (760) 737-7555; logan.jenkins@uniontrib.com.
