A Dallas police officer used his cruiser’s PA system to comment on a dog walker who hadn’t been paying attention. Nor had he noticed the patrol car behind him. The man kept walking in the lane as the cruiser slowly rolled up. His dog actually noticed the cruiser first.
The video was filmed on a tree-lined path in Dallas. Two police cruisers can be seen rolling slowly behind a man walking his dog on a leash, with another pedestrian standing to one side as the first cruiser approaches. The walker faces forward and continues without moving aside.
The dog turns its head and body toward the cruiser. That’s when the officer keys the PA system. He tells the walker that the dog has more situational awareness than he does at the moment in a joking tone. And really, he’s right — the dog walker had no idea the cruiser was there.
The walker turns, sees the police vehicle and steps to the side of the path with his dog. The first cruiser inches through, and then the second one follows. The video doesn’t explain why the cruisers were on the path, where they were going, or how the situation began. But it does show how some people can be oblivious to the world around them.
What the Video Shows
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The video is quick, but pretty funny. A man in a dark shirt and shorts walking ahead with a dog on a leash and two police cruisers rolling up slowly behind him seems like he isn’t paying a lot of attention.
Another pedestrian stands to one side of the path near a bridge as the first cruiser approaches. The walker keeps facing forward and continues in the lane, while the dog begins turning its head and body toward the cruiser.
The officer in the lead cruiser then uses the vehicle’s PA system to remark that the dog appears more aware of its surroundings than the man holding the leash. The walker turns, sees the cruiser, and steps aside with the dog while the first cruiser inches past and the second follows. The person recording the video can be heard laughing as the cruisers pass through.
The Dog’s Superior Situational Awareness
The dog walker blocking the police cruiser learned an important lesson about staying aware of his surroundings. On camera, the dog visibly looks back toward the cruiser and starts to shift to the side of the path before the walker reacts. So it’s quite clear the dog already had the sense to get moving before its human did.
The clip does not explain why the police cruisers were on the paved path in the first place, where they were heading, or whether the situation involved any active call.
There is no traffic stop, arrest, or emergency in the footage, and neither the officer nor the dog walker is publicly identified in the coverage shared by the outlets that picked up the clip.But there was probably plenty of embarrassment on the human’s part.