Harrisburg police Cpl. Ty Meik (right) speaks with organizer Jay Bowser during a meeting at Zeroday Brewing Co.
On Wednesday night, a group of concerned Midtown residents gathered at Zeroday Brewing Co. to discuss what recently has become the talk of the neighborhood—the shooting of two dogs, in just two months, by a fellow neighbor who is a Dauphin County parole officer.
The meeting featured a guest speaker, Cpl. Ty Meik, a Harrisburg canine officer, who, the organizers hoped, would shed some light on the matter, even if he could not discuss specifics (Meik repeatedly said he had no information on an investigation into the parole officer’s actions—or even if one was occurring).
It was interesting to hear Cpl. Meik speak. He clearly was concerned about the incident, as well as the community around him, and urged residents to be both cautious and vigilant.
However, I left the meeting with greater unease than when I arrived. Near the end of the hour-long discussion, the topic evolved from the specific to the general—from the actual case at hand to a broader debate about using deadly force when “feeling” under threat—including when your dog might be under threat.
Among this group of 20 or so, a division emerged between those who felt that firing a gun when sensing a threat was appropriate versus those who did not think so.
I was solidly in the latter category.
At 52 years old, I’m not a young man. I grew up just over the Hudson River from Manhattan when the Bronx was burning and “Escape from New York” seemed less a movie than a prediction. I lived in Washington, D.C., during the crack war and “Murder Capital” years, walking everywhere, even when the city logged more than 500 homicides in just one year.
Yet not once, in all those years, did I feel the need to pull out a gun and start shooting.
Did I feel uncomfortable at times? Absolutely—and not infrequently.
I’ve had groups of young men stare me down menacingly. I’ve had people shove me onto the sidewalk for no reason. I’ve had countless panhandlers aggressively beg for money, even threaten me. I’ve had random people mutter, swear at and even spit at me. I’ve lived on streets where people openly dealt drugs. I’ve had many dogs run at me (most harmlessly).
In other words, I’m no stranger to uncomfortable, even threatening situations, which, unfortunately, are nearly always a part of life in an American city. Yet, somehow, I’ve managed to survive, even prosper, without firing a shot.
Which is why I felt such discomfort when Meik—a solidly built, well-armed man wrapped in a bundle of protection—said that one’s sense of threat was relative, and, if that sense was strong enough, shooting a gun might be justified.
So, I thought to myself, should I have shot a gun when, as a freshman in college, a clearly unstable man punched me in the head as I was walking to the National Mall? Should I have shot a gun when a man followed me down the street and wouldn’t stop harassing me? Should I have shot a gun the one time I was mugged at gunpoint (the robber, clearly a junkie looking for a fix, stole $35 and ran away). Should I have shot a gun when my cousin’s dog bit me so hard in the stomach—and wouldn’t let go—that I needed stitches?
What is the threshold of threat that justifies using deadly force? And could those situations be resolved more peacefully?
I believe that, in each of the many threatening situations I’ve encountered, shooting a gun would have vastly escalated the situation. Someone, today, would be dead. It well might be me.
I have respect for Cpl. Meik and the difficult job he has to do. Having met him, I don’t feel disconcerted that he carries a gun everywhere, including, as he bluntly stated, into his church and his kid’s school. He seems responsible, caring and well trained.
But some people—many people—are not like Cpl. Meik. They are easily threatened and sense great danger when other people see an easily resolvable situation.
This is why I left the meeting so distraught. I have difficulty understanding how one person can feel so threatened by dogs that he pulls out a gun and shoots them twice in two months.
To me, there’s nothing relative about using deadly force. Shooting a gun is the most serious action a person can take, so he’d better be sure there are no alternatives. He should be carrying a gun only if he has the maturity and intelligence—even in the heat of the moment—to distinguish between a solvable problem and a genuine threat to life.
