It does look like the local police handled it poorly. Why ask a group of teenagers to drag out a shark? I know I used to work in a small town as a security director and someone had hit & killed a deer. The local police told me, not asked, to handle the situation for them. I told them, "No," and I stated that it was WAY out of my scope and if they could not handle doing their own job, they needed to call the NC-HP. If you work in law enforcement and that area covers a municipality that includes a beach, you should know the laws and codes as such. Did the police even know the tiger shark was a protected species? I would have to agree with the others who posted here that said it was grossly mishandled by CBPD. My best guess at a solution is to improve the training and to make sure the police know the laws. If you have a misinformed police officer, that will create trouble.