Letters to the Editor:

Cookeville would be a good place

 to start a police department, former Cookeville officer says

Geoff,

I really try to disconnect from Cookeville, but I worry about my friends who are still there so I read The Pit now and then. It appears that things have not changed much since I've left. As a matter of fact, I believe the "good ole boys" still take the attitude that they are untouchable and unaccountable for their actions. Cookeville would be a nice place to start a police department. The entire command staff, with the exception of one Captain and one Lieutenant, should be removed (I do not identify them for fear they would become Bob Terry's next targets). As a police veteran, it hurts to know the things that have happened there and apparently are still happening. Everyone in this profession knows that the integrity and professionalism of any police agency starts at the top. Unfortunately that message has never been received in Cookeville. Shame on the officers who repeatedly cover for their own continued incompetence and the political corruption which dictates the direction of the department (Honestly, though, most of them survive and get promoted by being "loyal" to Terry, White, Honeycutt and the rest of the stooges in power, including politicians and their political affiliates). Pity for those who strive to become professionals, but who fear for their livelihood, reputations and for the safety of their own family members to expose those who are unworthy. It is refreshing to read about the defeats of Abston and Coomer, though. The good people of Putnam County and Cookeville need to continue their efforts to elect representatives who are responsible, who make worthy appointments (city managers and police chiefs) and whose interests are not self-serving. I just don't know if that will happen in our lifetime. I miss my friends in Cookeville, but I do not miss working under the conditions of employment with the Cookeville Police Department. May God Bless You in your continued efforts to educate the residents of Putnam County and help them expose the corruption which infects the entire area.

Bill

_______________

Why did both Cookeville police officers turn off their cameras?

Reading the internal investigation regarding the Smoaks I find it interesting that both Cookeville officers turned off their on board cameras before the incident because of “overload” problems. I would suggest the town get better camera equipment if they are subject to “overloads” that allow officers to hide their actions. Without the THP tape there would have been no recording. Demand the cameras stay on at all times!

Bruce Ray Walker

General Counsel

West Virginia

Higher Education Policy Commission

Suite 700, 1018 Kanawha Blvd. East

Charleston, WV 25301

304-558-0695

walkerb@hepc.wvnet.edu

_______

This is the apathetic answer that I got from the Cookeville, TN town official

about the dog shooting. He doesn't care at all about not only the killing of

the dog but the family that was attacked. As a citizen, no wonder our

country is such a dilemma. Just let the so called little things build up

until we become desensitized.

It is a constant dumbing down of all that should be correct.

It seems that what is right is now wrong, and what was once wrong is now

right. I am a voter. I can and will make a difference for the good and

Sovereignty of our once great country!

Who is Rust to decide what social [issue] is more important. I don't think that there is a more important social ill than the American people being under attack by those who are pledged to protect and serve and uphold our constitution. The last that I checked, we are still in the USA. Thank you for your keen interest and understanding on the implications of this matter.

----- Original Message -----

From: "John Rust" <John.Rust@state.tn.us>

To: <svtb15@hotmail.com>

Sent: Saturday, January 11, 2003 11:05 AM

Subject: Re: Cookeville , TN Puppy Slaughtering Capitol of the World

I hope that you are as revolted about the other more important social ills

of our society as you are the unfortunate killing of a dog.

>>> "K" <svtb15@hotmail.com> 01/10/03 10:32 AM >>>

I am revolted by the news that an over fanatical trigger happy cop shot and

killed a family dog.

I live in Dallas, TX and heard the distressing news today.

It is crucial that the cop be psycho analyzed and put at a desk job.

He is apparently not fit to be in a high pressure situation even though he

is the one that created the high pressure.

 I would like to ponder what his likes and dislikes of animals are.

Does he have a past record of abuse of animals or humans.

The police department of Cookeville, TN should be sued for a few million

dollars just to make it known that there are consequences for a cruel and

irrational behavior.

The vice mayor offered sympathy to the family it says in the news. That

family deserves much more than sympathy for loosing one of their family.

That is a real nice way to get your town in the news.

Kirk

Your new town Slogan:

Cookeville , TN  Puppy Slaughtering Capitol of the World

 _______________ 

Hello great job,

 How ever check out the herald-citizen story about a yr. and a half ago about the other dog shooting in Cookeville by the same police officer. It was under the same circumstances the dog was loose in the families own yard and he got a complaint from a neighbor and he went in shoot it in its own yard. The shame is it looks like Lassie getting out of the car! Also the THP officer (Jerry Andrews) in charge has had trouble controlling his officers before. I have an important question, how would you control a real emergency situation (such as a terrorist attack) if you can’t Handel a dog that can at the worst bite your ankles. I’m afraid because who's gonna protect our children? Not Our Quick at the draw police officers they might shoot our children! I think the Soaks needs to donate to the police department to get some real cops not Royal Idiots! One more thing Mr. Hall needs to become the poster child for Animal rights...HAHA...

P.s. Cookeville how much is our taxes gonna go up because of our Stupid cops!

Your website is great keep up the good work,

An Angry Cookevillian

This might not be the correct place to send this mail but I need to say a few things about the news footage shown this evening on the national news concerning the Cookeville Police stopping a family in a car, taking all of the members of the family out of the car to handcuff them and when the family dog jumped out of the car because the officers left the car doors open one of the officers shot the poor dog in the head. The dog wasn't even trying to attack the officers and this malicious act is totally unacceptable.  We try to teach our children that police officers are their friends and are there to help them.  Definitely not in this case.  The family or their dog didn't have a chance to explain.  It so happens that the man in the family car had left his wallet on top of the car and that is the reason for the money flying around.  The Cookeville Police Department should be ashamed to call themselves protectors of the public's rights.  You are a bunch of gangsters.

_______________________________

Looks like the Cookeville PD brought down their website. Do you think the

cops got a few hate e-mails.

That cop is guilty of murdering a puppy and the department is guilty of

aiding and abetting a killer. Anybody who kills a dog as that dog is

approaching you wagging its tail is a killer of life.......It is like

that cop approaching me with his hand out getting ready to shake hands and

I shoot him.

It is a shame we have low life taking money from the taxpayer.

Jerry

ps    remind me to drive a tank through their watch area

_____________________

would a tourism boycott be too harsh if swift and sure justice is not

meted out in Cookeville?...not just boycotts in Cookeville, but lets

start in Nashville and Gatlinburg...keep us up to date and

informed...were being blocked out by the Gestapo in Cookeville..

_____________________

Chief Robert E. Terry

I just read about how your officer treats visitors to Tennessee. You can

rest assured that you will never see me or my family in the State of

Tennessee.

I picked up the story on DrudgeReport.com and with 4,227,397 visits to the

website just yesterday I'm sure you will be hearing from many Americans who

are as disgusted as I am with people in your department who are sworn to

protect and to serve.

Just take a look at the mission statement from your website.

"To provide the citizens and visitors of Cookeville with professional police

services at a level of quality that will instill high public confidence and

will maintain community trust and support."

Saying you are sorry is not enough.

Syd Majors

Atlanta, Georgia

CC Governor, Don Sundquist, Officer Eric Hall

_________________________________________________________________

Dear Geoff,

No one will debate the fact that the actions of the CPD and the THP were wrong...beginning with the poor communication between dispatchers and ending with the shooting of the family pet.  I'm sure we all hope that the facts will prevail.

I don't think that we should let this incident blind us to the climate of "back-slapping inefficiency" that has characterized Cookeville government for some time.  Your publication has done well in bringing these issues to light, and we don't need to rehash them here.

I hope that the citizens will be prodded into action and seek answers for this and the other issues you have shown us.

A sad period for the people of Cookeville...

If you have not done so, I encourage you and your readers to check out Mr. Sam Venable's column in the Knoxville News-Sentinel on the felony stop.  It is available on the KNS website (www.knoxnews.com).

Regards,
Mark

_______________________

I was thoroughly appalled by the murder of an innocent  family's pet. How can anyone be afraid of a dog that is bounding around and wagging his tail? Only a simple minded brain dead idiot would be afraid of this dog.

The video also clearly shows the danger the Smoak family was in from the trigger happy Gestapo. The guns were quickly turned on the family and they were probably quite lucky the idiots didn't fire on them.

What is this world coming to when it takes 5 huge rifle toting police officers to stop an innocent family all based on a stupid 911 call? How do you go from money flying out of a car to a felony? What a load of garbage.

The next time I'm stopped for speeding, will I have to face a bazooka? This police state has to stop.

Maureen Holmes

Louisville, Kentucky

____________________________________

The unprovoked attack on the Smoaks family was nothing more or less than

an act of terrorism.  Under provisions of the so-called "USA Patriot

Act", these terrorists should be immediately brought before a military

tribunal and punished for endangering the lives and security of American

Citizens.

We all know what will happen instead.  The terrorists will be carefully

protected by the Al-Qaida like network of old boys in power, and

eventually be rewarded for their behavior.  They will commit more acts

of terrorism, and shoot more pets for fun.

Since justice will not be served, I will pass my own sentence:  If I

ever have the misfortune of passing through Cookeville, TN, I will not

spend a single penny of my own money, but I will make a special point of

leaving my urine.  I call upon like-minded Americans everywhere to do

the same.

This sentence will be voided ONLY if the citizens of Cookeville take

pride in their American Citizenship and overthrow the terrorist regime

governing them, preferably peacefully.  It has happened elsewhere in

America, it could happen in Cookeville.

Daniel W. Van Riper

dwvr@atecone.net

_____________________

Eric Hall...what a FUCKING IDIOT! To do the same to him as he did to

that dog would be the waste of a good bullet...he doesn't have any

fucking brains! I hope the Cookeville Police Dept gets sued  out of

existence.

Diane Emmerich, Milwaukee WI.

________________________________

I see your town received some additional favorable publicity this week.

Shame on your gun happy cops, especially the goon that shot the dog.

Somehow the odds in that weren't very fair, and I take my hat off to

the dog’s owner for showing patience I wouldn't have had. I don't know

how he was able to control himself, maybe it was the fear of being shot

himself.

Looked like the entire "posse" had them surrounded.

Makes me ashamed to admit that I'm even from the same State.

PLEASE, PLEASE, Come down with both of YOUR barrels on this guy. Like your

site, it  turned

up when I did a search for the town as I'm seething over seeing the videos

of

what took place with the entire family.

I'd be happy to send a contribution to the family to help them buy a new

pup although I'm sure

nothing will take the place of the one who was destroyed by a stupid, gun

happy cop.

Jim Hall

____________________________

Hello, I found your website after reading about the sick and totally uncalled for use of force on this family - if the police officials really believe all of this is /was justified...well, it's later than we  think Americans!  It's time to restore our rights as Americans to be considered innocent before being proved guilty.  I only wish I could be on the jury for the civil law suit..

R Hull

My 1/8 note...

Subj: This is America, Mr. Charles Womack?
Date: 1/8/2003 10:56:26 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: RHull2222
To: mayor@cookeville-tn.org
CC: gfowler@cookeville-tn.org

Dear Sir,  I just viewed on CNN the tape from the THP showing the "aggressive", "attacking" and "circling to attack"  family dog....you people are a trip...it's not 1955 anymore  and the camera doesn't lie...I agree...the attack dog was wagging it's tail - I'm sure it was just a ploy - good thing your "policeman" saw though that!

Tomorrow I will call every Federal Official, every elected official I can reach to insist that for something like this to occur (a complete disregard for the most basic understanding of the principals that these "policemen" are sworn to uphold)
there MUST be a series of other events that would encourage and promote this type of behavior. For the policeman to put forth (and swear to in the police report) such a lame excuse only compounds this crime.

The fact that this family was treated in this fashion before the "attack dog" self defense shooting is unbelievable and should be the subject of very public review.

I believe it's time for some new leadership for the police in Cookeville, and termination for the "officers" involved - that's justified just on my viewing of the tape on CNN - I hope the nation will demand no less.

R Hull
Lucia, NC 

_______________________

I am writing in relation to the Smoaks family that was wrongly pulled over

and held at gunpoint. Not only were they terrified and harassed when they

were pulled over, but they had to watch as one of their beloved dogs got

murdered.

I copied this from www.tennessean.com. Everyone should go there and read the

full story

Dispatcher Shannon Pickard of the Nashville office told investigators the

woman believed the out-of-state car had ''been up to something.'' His

statement was provided to reporters yesterday.

According to Womack, Pickard issued a bulletin at 5 p.m. to all Middle

Tennessee law enforcement agencies to inquire whether any robberies had

occurred involving a green station wagon with out-of-state tags. No replies

fitting the description were received.

In Cookeville, THP dispatcher Timothy Glenn McHood issued a BOLO notice,

which means ''be on the lookout,'' to the troopers in his area. In an

interview with THP investigators, McHood said he noted that the green

station wagon ''could possibly'' have been involved in a robbery.

How can you issue a "be on the lookout" for this car that "could possibly be

involved in a robbery" when there WAS NO ROBBERY!!!!   He should not have

issued anything on this car because again there was NO robbery. Did he even

THINK or RESEARCH the situation??  I think Mr. McHood should loose his job

as well as the other officers who refused to close the car door of a very

cooperative FAMILY and the maniac who fired his shotgun on an innocent PET -

what if he had hit a person?

My deepest sympathies go out to the Smoaks family and their pets. I am not

one to say that people should sue, but I hope they sue the pants off of the

Cookeville Police Dept. and the Tennessee Highway Patrol (and every

company/agency involved). I live in TN and I am very ashamed of the actions

and miscommunications performed by this agency that is supposed to protect

and help us. It even makes me afraid of what will happen if I ever get

pulled over....

What has our society come to? Justice must prevail to teach officers to

think before they issue bulletins and treat innocent people like dangerous

criminals.

___________________

Despicable. Cookeville.

________________

Re: Felony Stop, Dog Shooting in Cookeville.

Where is transcription, or recording of the 911 call that started all

this mess??  Whoever took that call, and then ok'd the "felony stop" are

the ones who need to HANG...

Sarah Wild

________

hi geoff,

while researching the shooting of a pet dog by "officer" hall, i came across

your website. first of all, kudos for reporting about all the "interesting

little things" in the closet of the Cookeville PD (among other things). it

does not only help an outsider like me to form an opinion apart from what

CNN or other news sites offer, it also makes me see some things in a

different light than before. if there was ever such a thing as "benefit of

the doubt" about "officer" hall's actions, it has now been removed entirely.

i am part of an international online community of over 12,000 avid readers

who are particularly interested in what's going to happen to "officer" hall

- and rest assured they will stay on the ball. appeals have been posted in

several locations to email Tennessee officials. I will continue to post the

link to your site so people can check back for updates.

best regards,

lilian, concerned dog owner

_________________________________________________________________

Geoff:

I called you yesterday and now have reviewed you web site several times.  The local talk show jocks here are saying the dog shooting was acceptable under the situation.
They are disguised as conservatives.  No true conservative can support the police state of having this type of treatment brought against your family based on a dam_ phone call.

The constitution says that you are to meet you accusers.  These new laws where a neighbor can call and say they suspect that you are mistreating you child permits the DSSS_B's to kick your door down and come in your house and take your child.

Other new laws can result in the animal control coming on your property and taking your dog and you never know who make the call.

I think that any report suspicious act must require that the accuser must know that they will face the accused in court. This will stop this type of hysteria.  The false report here is the problem.  Was the car doing 110 mile an hour?  If not they have a case against the woman who made the call, false accusations.   Is there any evidence that this car was involved in a robbery.  Think not. Again someone made an error in judgment.  Who here is responsible.   Did the highway patrol make that call are did they go on the word of a woman on a phone call.

If this be true, we must call in that all law officers in Cookeville were seen mugging a child and they will have to be thrown on the ground, arrested and handcuffed before we ever see any proof.  And, if he hesitates in dropping his gun, the arresting officer could be threatened and bang, you guessed it.

I do not hate cops, I try my  best to respect them but this caper set law  enforcement in Tennessee, state and local, back to civil rights days.  Now, governor you must show us something or we will be worrying about our new speaker in DC.

I am serious,  complaint driven law must be supported by the complainer knowing that he will be in court.  This will stop a lot of false reporting.   Thank God for cameras in police cars.   This now protects the citizen as much as the officer. 

Go figure that one if you can.

Don Yelton
North Carolina

___________________

The unprovoked attack on the Smoaks family was nothing more or less than

an act of terrorism.  Under provisions of the so-called "USA Patriot

Act", these terrorists should be immediately brought before a military

tribunal and punished for endangering the lives and security of American

Citizens.

We all know what will happen instead.  The terrorists will be carefully

protected by the Al-Qaida like network of old boys in power, and

eventually be rewarded for their behavior.  They will commit more acts

of terrorism, and shoot more pets for fun.

Since justice will not be served, I will pass my own sentence:  If I

ever have the misfortune of passing through Cookeville, TN, I will not

spend a single penny of my own money, but I will make a special point of

leaving my urine.  I call upon like-minded Americans everywhere to do

the same.

This sentence will be voided ONLY if the citizens of Cookeville take

pride in their American Citizenship and overthrow the terrorist regime

governing them, preferably peacefully.  It has happened elsewhere in

America, it could happen in Cookeville.

Daniel W. Van Riper

dwvr@atecone.net

___________________

Thank you so much for providing information about the Crazy Cookeville Cops

on your web site.  Without this site many people would never know the truth

and the past acts or neglect and abuse in their administration.  I am still

in a complete daze after reading the material you have provided, no wonder

they are not punishing that officer for shooting the dog, hell they would

have to throw the whole force in jail including their chief and mayor.  If I

lived there yesterday I would not be a resident of Cookeville today.

Rick Wallace

Baumholder, Germany

_______________________

________________

 who blew the whistle on terry & paul-randolph ? your answer/ we will  go

from there

_______________________________________________________

Please people, I am writing as I am sure so many already have before me about the disregard for life the officer who shot the obviously friendly family pet.  It should be embarrassing for this police chief to continue to provide excuses for his officer.  What a disgrace!  I actually read the Police Chief claimed the officer was one of his most compassionate on the force.  If this officer was one of the most compassionate, then it leads me to wonder who else is on the force, a bunch of baby killers and wife abusers.  People should be held accountable for their actions and these participants in this renegade stop should all be held accountable from the person who claimed possible robbery to the unbelievable careless act of cruelty placed upon the pet and the family.  How can anyone watch that tape and actually believe the officer was in fear for himself and others.  I grew up in Tennessee and have always gotten upset about the remarks made regarding the backwardness of the south.  Now since there seems to be no one willing to take responsibility for this horrendous act, I can never again take up for my home state.  Does the Chief understand how foolish he actually sounds?  Does the City Manager know that people will not tolerate this?  Did he really say it was "Just a Dog"?  I am appalled and will be watching this story closely.  All my support is 100% with this family.  I pray their pain will heal, it will be hard, but I pray they can heal from this infliction of injustice.  While I pray for them, I too will pray for the other people who will be driving through your town.  God forbid they lose their wallet!
Melanie Starbuck
1312 8th Ave. S.E.
Decatur, AL 35601
256-353-1674
_______________________

http://www.animallaw.info/articles/aruswroot2002.htm

 Go to Tenn. T-Bo act.  Pass it on. -Ken

________________________

A bunch of us former co-workers in Knoxville are discussing the Smoak

incident and various other first hand accounts of Cookeville police

brutality on our listserv. One of our unhappy band recalled your site from

several years ago. Thanks for offering a public forum in which to vent and

search for solutions.

In my opinion, nothing gets the attention of good old' boys until they feel

it in their back pockets. Therefore several of us propose an economic

boycott of Cookeville. Not that many Knoxvillians drive from here to there

as a destination, but there is a heck of a lot of interstate traffic between

our cities. At best Cookeville is a place to grab a quick meal, hit the

restroom and get back on the interstate toward our ultimate destination.

But if enough people, through heightened awareness made possible by forums

like this, refuse to spend one cent in Cookeville, they might get the

message that they need to clean up their act.

Folks reading this, please do your part to put the hurt on this backwards

city administration by refusing to spend one red cent in Cookeville until a

shakedown of its corrupt administration is delivered on and a report made

available to the public.

For what it's worth, here are my comments on the petition.

"The dog shooting incident is an embarrassment to this state. The people

demand a prompt investigation and MEANINGFUL sanctions for all responsible

parties in this tragedy. Officials of Cookeville must be held accountable

for this and many other incidents of undue force by law enforcement if they

are to gain the public's trust. Judging from numerous accounts of incidents

prior to the latest injustice, these police officers are nothing more than

thugs in blue. I and others who are outraged by these incidents have vowed

an economic boycott of Cookeville and are advising our associates to avoid

stopping there when traversing the state."

Thanks for your good work, Geoff. We know that the corrupt administration is

not reflective of you nor the great majority of Cookevillians who have to

put up with those ignorant, power-hungry yokels every day.

- Alesa Rottersman

Knoxville, Tennessee

_____________

After reading about the Cookeville Police (due to the dog shooting

incident), I'm grateful that you have your web site up and running.

Porno rings, cops shooting each other, animal cruelty, trigger happy arrests

.. . .

If I can make a donation to your legal funds, I'll be happy to do so!

--

William Ames

PO Box 845

State College, PA 16804

http://www.hikepa.com

bill@hikepa.com

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

                    Thomas Jefferson et al

____________________

Well I'm embarrassed to say but I live in the wonderful state of TN.  We were thinking of retiring in the area of Cookeville, but now we don't have to waste our time looking for a place in that direction.  Please let everyone know that not all cities in TN  have ignorant, redneck officers working for them.  We don't have friendly, tail waging dog killers here in Cleveland.  Don't judge all of  us here in TN by the example of one ignorant jackass.

Our sincere regrets to the Smoaks family,

Ray, Deborah & Katelyn Lauderback

Cookeville Police Officer Eric Hall should be suspended WITHOUT PAY.  He should be charged as would any other citizen for wanton endangerment and killing a pet.  The motorist had merely left his wallet on his car while getting gas and was assaulted by your Gestapo Police Force.

I am disgusted.  This will cost Nashville $$ Millions in tourist revenue; much less hurt the reputation of Tennessee Tech.

This is another example of how we live in a Police State and our rights are being constantly violated.

K. Rose

Huntsville, AL

(formerly Nashville resident)

_______________________

One day(SOON), Officer Hall, may you meet a similar fate you NAZI PUNK.      Marc Blume 23 year veteran.   Georgia/Indiana

_____________________________

Reading the internal investigation regarding the Smoaks I find it interesting that both Cookeville officers turned off their on board cameras before the incident because of “overload” problems. I would suggest the town get better camera equipment if they are subject to “overloads” that allow officers to hide their actions. Without the THP tape there would have been no recording. Demand the cameras stay on at all times!

Bruce Ray Walker

General Counsel

West Virginia

Higher Education Policy Commission

Suite 700, 1018 Kanawha Blvd. East

Charleston, WV 25301

304-558-0695

walkerb@hepc.wvnet.edu

_____________________

I hope the American Military in Iraq are not as trigger happy as the Cookeville Police.  God forbid they all trained at the same school.  Might be more than a dog we loose next time.  Might be our World.

Being an old army sergeant I am a firm believer in training personnel to

handle situations and or contingencies that they may be faced with in the

normal operation of duties.

Apparently facing down a family pet isn't covered in the "handbook."

With that said maybe I can offer a suggestion.

Lock an unarmed Hall and a true fierce fighting dog in a room together so

that he can differentiate between the two.

DASH CAMS WORK!!!

Ken King

Another very disgusted son of the south

________________

Captain Bob,

I would like to commend your department for it's brave and thoughtful action with shooting the dog.  How dare that dog get out of the car wagging its tail.  There must not be many dogs left in your town with that kind of decisive action your officers take.  Those criminals that they had handcuffed were lucky they were not shot as well.  After all, just being near Cookeville must be a capital offense.  The officer who shot the dog is invited to come to our town and speak before our local animal rescue organization on animal control.  On second thought, keep him there.  In fact, put him on trial and if by some remote possibility he is found guilty, sentence him to community service at the animal shelter.  He would probably prefer to have the duty of putting the animals down.  What a sad pitiful day for your department.  Shame.  Shame.  Bad cop!

Richard Clinton

San Juan Capistrano

_________________

I THINK YOUR WEB SITE IS IN VERY POOR TASTE......CONSIDERING WHAT HAS HAPPENED  NOT LONG AGO WITH THE DOG SHOOTING BY A COOKEVILLE POLICE OFFICER.......I WAS JUST TRYING TO FIND THE POLICE DEPT..E-MAIL ADDRESS...WHEN I FOUND THIS SITE.....I AM NOT VERY HAPPY WITH WHAT HAS HAPPENED AND AFTER LOGGING ONTO YOUR WEBSITE.....I CAN ALMOST UNDERSTAND THE MENTALITY OF YOUR TOWN AND COUNTY..
...........KATHY WAUGH...........GAINESVILLE GEORGIA

____________________________

I pray he is never allowed to carry a badge again.

_________________________________________________________________

I imagine the Smoak family may need a little financial assistance to to

properly go after the people who killed their dog. If you have contacts for

any sort of fund, I would like to contribute.

David Cabana

dcabana@saffrontech.com

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed -- and

thus clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless series

of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -- H.L. Mencken

__________________

Hi there.

This dog-murder incident that the Cookeville police are trying to sweep

under the carpet reminded me of something I heard about when I was a

journalism student at Tennessee Tech (and I can tell you -- hardly anyone on

campus trusted the Cookeville PD).

Several of the students at that time (mid-to-late '80s) told me about an

incident that supposedly happened at a mini-mart close to campus. It seems

that the police got wind of a planned robbery at that store. So, the