Fatal Police Shooting Caught on a Camera He Bought: His Story

 

West Palm Beach, Fl - When retired investigator and sergeant Jay “Packy” Dempsey looks back on the day that changed everything, he still remembers the heat, the silence, and the split second when his own service weapon was turned against him.

It all began with a simple complaint call in a high-crime area. What unfolded next would thrust him into a life-or-death struggle, ignite a firestorm of controversy, and eventually inspire him to write a book that exposes both the violence on the streets and the invisible battles that follow officers home.

And it was all captured on a dashcam he personally paid for.

The episode can be found on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast website, plus Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, Blogspot, and most major platform

A One-Minute Struggle. Four Seconds of Gunfire. A Life Saved by a K-9 Named Princess.

Dempsey responded to a loitering complaint on the outskirts of Selma, Alabama, routine on paper, unpredictable in reality. During the encounter, the suspect overpowered him, seized his pistol, and pointed it directly at his head.

“I thought that was it,” Dempsey recalls in the new Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast episode, now streaming on their website, plus Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and nearly every podcast platform.

With no time to think, he hit the remote for his bail-out device. In an instant, K-9 Princess, his longtime partner, burst from the patrol SUV and lunged into the fight.

The suspect struck Princess in the head, fracturing her skull, yet she never stopped.

Her courage gave Dempsey the seconds he needed to access his backup weapon. He fired multiple rounds, stopping the threat and saving both their lives.

A Dashcam That Cleared His Name

The gunfire was only the beginning.

Civil rights groups protested. Commentators labeled Dempsey a murderer. Community pressure mounted. But the truth, the struggle, the weapon grab, the attempted execution, had been caught on a dash camera Dempsey had purchased with his own money.

That footage became the evidence that ultimately cleared him of wrongdoing.

The full story, including the aftermath and the emotional fallout, is chronicled in Dempsey’s gripping book, The Fastest 4 Seconds, named for the exact span of time in which the shooting occurred.

“This is more than a police story. It’s a survival story.”

Over his 25-year law enforcement career, plus six years as a Military Policeman in the Alabama Army National Guard, Dempsey served as:

A SWAT commander
A dual-purpose K-9 handler for 22 years
An investigator specializing in narcotics, criminal investigations, and marine theft
An FBI and NRA-certified firearms instructor
A five-time Officer of the Year
A recipient of the National Award for Bravery in the Line of Fire

He recovered bodies with cadaver dogs, solved murders and rapes, and located more than 80 stolen boats.

But the shooting that Princess helped him survive sparked a different kind of war, one fought internally.

PTSD. Addictions. A collapsing personal life. “I lost almost everything,” Dempsey says in the interview. “But God wasn’t finished with me.”

The Hidden Toll: Trauma Behind the Badge

The episode also touches on broader national data that rarely makes headlines:

1,270 people were fatally shot by police in 2024, the highest in a decade.
From 2021–2023, more officers were killed feloniously than any other three-year period in 20 years.
79,091 officers were assaulted in 2023, the highest rate in a decade.
The number of officers assaulted and injured by firearms hit a 10-year high.

Behind every statistic is a person trying to make it home.

Behind every shooting is a ripple of trauma, for officers, families, and entire communities.

Life After the Shooting

Despite being cleared, Dempsey made the difficult decision to leave the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office. The pressure never truly stopped. He continued his law enforcement career at the Orange Beach Police Department, where Princess served until her retirement. She passed away from cancer at age 14, a beloved partner, protector, and hero.

Today, Dempsey speaks at police academies, churches, and men’s groups, teaching about survival, trauma, responsibility, and faith.

His message is simple: “You can come back from the darkest moments of your life.”

A Story That Still Reverberates Today

For those who want to hear Dempsey tell the story in his own words, the fear, the controversy, the healing, and the faith that held him together, the full episode is available now:

Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast Streaming on their website, plus Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Medium, Blogspot, and most major platforms.

His book, The Fastest 4 Seconds, also explores the incident through eyewitness testimony, investigative reports, news articles, and the dashcam video that changed everything.

Because sometimes, the difference between life and death… fits inside four seconds.

Read more stories, exclusive interviews, and behind-the-scenes reporting from Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast across Facebook, Instagram, Blogspot, LinkedIn, and other platforms.

Attributions

Scott Silverii

Ashley Harris Paul

FBI

Fastest 4 Seconds

The Selma Times Journal

 



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