Cops are held personally responsible for their illegal actions. They go to jail all the time for wrongly shooting people.
Any cop who shoots a threatening child w/o first considering alternatives would have a serious legal problem. Most pet dogs are nothing more than threatening children. I will agree that dogs obviously kept for security & intimidation are exceptions.
I totally diagree with your assertion that there would be far fewer police if they were held responsible for their illegal actions. What there would be is fewer “shoot first & ask questions later” police.
I do agree that if it is PD policy to shoot even slightly aggressive dogs, then the officer acted appropriately & is blameless. If so, the policy should be changed.
Would a policeman who owns dogs immediately shoot a dog on private property? I seriously doubt it. Most dog owners would go out of their way to avoid harming the dog. Was the reason for the police visit so important as to warrant killing the occupants or destroying private property?
There are 39% of households in the USA with at lease one dog, & 74M dogs owned by Americans. Police will encounter dogs in 4 of 10 households they approach. They have a responsibility to deal with pets in a humane & considerate manner unless the dog owner encourages violence. That might not be law, but it is the right thing to do.
“I totally diagree with your assertion that there would be far fewer police if they were held responsible for their illegal actions. What there would be is fewer “shoot first & ask questions later” police.”
I fail to understand how placing the responsibility on the shoulder of the cops while absolving/ignoring or minimizing their superiors policies will result in anything but mass migration to another area of employment.
That is an easy way to get full dictator type policies at the top of the food chain IMO. When a cop does stuff like this, his superiors have to be accountable as well. Moreso because they are responsible for having such a cop under them. By policy or by dereliction of duty.
A good cop will get totally screwed.