After recently cutting into Sheriff Michael Chitwood when he objected to a leading question from a reporter, this week, The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s editor John Dunbar continued his one-man crusade against area law enforcement with an over-the-top editorial bashing a Daytona Beach Police Department K-9 officer who used reasonable and appropriate force in subduing a violent felony suspect.  

In my view, Dunbar’s lopsided hit piece had all the usual tropes, carefully painting the offender in the softest light possible, while demonizing the police officer who performed his dangerous duty and intervened to stop an in-progress felony crime when the suspect, Richard O’Donnell, was reportedly burglarizing a vehicle at a Daytona Beach dealership during the early hours of April 8. 

When confronted by officers, the suspect was brandishing a tennis racket and repeatedly refused lawful commands.

After multiple warnings to get on the ground, O’Donnell assumed an aggressive “fighting stance” and K-9 Officer Vezer was released to lawfully subdue him.  In response, the suspect violently resisted arrest – physically choking the dog by squeezing it between his legs, violently kicking, and using the tennis racket in an effort to injure the police K-9.   

In turn, Vezer’s handler, Officer Joshua Martin, disarmed O’Donnell and used the racket as an improvised impact weapon to protect Vezer from harm.  According to Dunbar, “A bloodied O’Donnell still refused to put his arms behind his back. He was tasered at least three times and finally relented and was taken into custody.”

In accordance with proper police procedure, Officer Martin’s use of force was thoroughly investigated and found to be within department policy and the law – and O’Donnell later entered a no contest plea to the charges in Volusia County Veteran’s Court. 

According to reports, even though O’Donnell has multiple previous arrests, he was credited with 79 days served since his arrest, and the charges in this case will be dismissed if he successfully completes the terms of a supervised plea agreement…

Apparently, rather than let those inconvenient facts get in the way, Dunbar hires an “expert” to tell him what he wants to hear…

Since Mr. Dunbar apparently has no personal experience subduing violent felony suspects, in an effort to make a point, he engaged a professional “Monday morning quarterback” in Dr. George Kirkham – who obtained his Doctorate in Criminology from the University of California at Berkeley – and now bills himself as the “Professor who became a cop.” 

According to Kirkham’s “professional vita,” that means he took leave from the Ivory Tower of academia, and “…after attending and graduating from a police academy, Dr. Kirkham spent six months as a patrolman on a high crime beat in a major American city” (?) – before rejoining the faculty at Florida State University while continuing his illustrious law enforcement career as a part-time officer with four different agencies (?). 

Based upon the dates of his academic publications, Dr. Kirkham’s learned opinions may have been perfectly applicable to Adam-12’s Reed and Malloy, but according to his website, Mr. Dunbar’s expert hasn’t been a “certified police officer” in the State of Florida since 1992…

Regardless, from behind the safety of his desk as “Professor Emeritus” at FSU, he now charges defense attorneys (and, apparently, vindictive newspaper editors) for his second-guessing opinions – a service which begins with a $9,500 retainer – and, according to a menu on Dr. Kirkham’s website – includes a fee of $3,500 for depositions, $7,000 plus expenses and per diem for expert witness testimony “due and payable at the time of my trial appearance,” $400 per hour for mediations, etc.

You get the idea… 

In this case, I would suspect Dr. Kirkham and Mr. Dunbar were both safely asleep in their beds at 2:10 a.m. on April 8 when Officer Martin, K-9 Vezer, and other Daytona Beach police officers courageously confronted a violent felony suspect, armed with a tennis racket, and refusing to comply with lawful commands. 

Yet, according to Dunbar, based on body-worn camera footage, Dr. Kirkham still has the prescience to label the officers’ actions “outrageous” and guilty of a “firing offense.”

According to Kirkham’s expensive bilge:

“…the dog should never have been released in the first place. He compares the use of the dog as having the same degree of severity as striking a baton blow.

“There was nothing I saw that would justify taking that dog off the leash,” he said. “You’ve got a lot of other options. You want to de-escalate the situation.”

He recommended a “tactical disengagement.” Back up get out of reach proximity and call for back-up. Keep caustic spray handy and utilize the Taser if necessary. As for the tennis racket?

“There are situations where you can improvise but this ain’t one of them,” Kirkham said.”

My ass. 

I certainly don’t hold myself out as an “expert” – but during over three-decades in law enforcement and the course of hundreds of felony arrests, I never had the luxury of a “tactical disengagement” – running “out of reach proximity” and keeping “caustic spray” handy while an armed suspect presumably chased me around the Maypole…

In my view, that “could’ve, should’ve, would’ve” bullshit might work in the cloistered halls of academia, but it’s dangerous when confronting an armed, aggressive, and actively resisting suspect in a dimly lit alley at 2:10 a.m…

In my view, most people are smart enough to see through the asinine opinion of an egghead with six months full-time experience in law enforcement – and, once again, Mr. Dunbar doesn’t do himself, or the News-Journal, any favors by thinking it provocative to use what remains of our hometown newspaper as a platform to launch repeat attacks on Volusia County law enforcement…

The fact is Volusia County and its municipalities have some of the finest law enforcement officers anywhere. I can state that as a fact, having personally served with many of them – men and women who serve grateful communities with honor, integrity, and courage.

Sadly, Mr. Dunbar’s attempts to sensationalize the realities of policework looks like what it is – desperation…

As the bow of the S.S. News-Journal continues its inexorable slide beneath the waves of a dwindling readership, perhaps Mr. Dunbar should realize that the vast majority of law-abiding citizens everywhere are growing weary of being victimized by an increasingly violent criminal element who have turned the streets of many American cities into a dystopian wasteland – and social engineers who have gutted our criminal justice system and vilified law enforcement.   

Not here.   Not yet. 

In Volusia County, the brave men and women of law enforcement are out there now, boldly holding the thin line between the rule of law and anarchy – willingly placing themselves in harm’s way – and paying the price of protecting your family and mine from oppression and victimization with their blood, sweat, and tears.

In my view, their extraordinary dedication and personal sacrifice in service to others is well deserving of our admiration and support.