Fire the cop. No excuses.
Posted on 06/16/2009 11:04:00 AM PDT by marktwain
"Killer" the miniature dachshund shot by a police officer. (Richmond-Times Dispatch)Police in Danville, Virginia are defending the fatal shooting and killing of an 11 year-old miniature dachshund, claiming that the police officer who shot the 12-pound dog, acted reasonably and in self-defense.
"Shooting a dog which is actively presenting a threat to an officer is within the department's policy," states a press release issued by Danville Police Chief Phillip Broadfoot.
The diminutive dog, who had the ironic name of "Killer", was known as a "sweet, mild-mannered dog," reports the Richmond-Times Dispatch.
"He just kind of walked up and down the neighborhood and didn't bother anybody," said neighbor Jenine Edmunds. "He was just a little house dog."
Killer and his family --- Tawalin Harper, his wife and two kids --- live on a quiet cul-de sac. "He was the security guard around here," Harper said, explaining that Killer would bark whenever a strange car entered the cul-de-sac.
How did the shooting happen?
Earlier this week, a police officer pulled into the cul-de-sac to serve two warrants to a neighbor. As the officer --- whose name the police department is refusing to release --- returned to his car, "he was surprised by a growling dog running through the yard directly at him from the rear, leaving him with just seconds to consider his options," reads the police statement.
Police Chief Broadstreet said the officer's options in that instance were to run to the squad car, distract the dog, or use pepper spray, his baton or his firearm.
After Killer, allegedly "lunged at the officer and attacked him," the officer decided to draw his gun and shoot the aging 12-pound mini dachshund. Apparently, the officer feared great bodily harm --- perhaps to his ankles.
Harper's children, who were inside the house, heard the gunshot and called their father, who raced home to find Killer laying on the ground "with his guts hanging out.“
According to NBC4i, the officer leaned against his patrol car, smoking a cigarette. He refused to give Harper his name and badge number and said "he had to shoot the dog because he was barking at him."
When the officer's supervisor arrived on the scene, the supervisor/lieutenant was very sorry. "“He kept apologizing," recalls Harper. "And he said I know apologizing can’t bring the dog back, but I just don’t know what to say.“
The Harpers remain devastated at the loss of the dog they have had and loved for 11 years. "He was a family member," says a bewildered and saddened Harper. "They took a family member away."
No, it is not. "Possible" does not equal "reasonable." Were that true, it would be "reasonable" to shoot a fleeing felon in the back, because it's "possible" he could stop, turn, and shoot at you.
A dog of a certain size and weight DOES make a difference. No amount of hiding behind "legality" is going to change that. And you are doing for police what those commercials where the guy deceives the little kid does for banks.
As I said, it's not such a great leap from there to "I was just following orders" and so such men are rightly despised, along with the institutions that inculcate such wanton duplicity.
in my department, you CANNOT shoot a fleeing felon even though it is possible he will turn and shoot at you.
however, if he is running away and holding a gun over his shoulder pointed at you, you CAN shoot him because it is reasonable that he will shoot at you.
i know i am using dept guidelines, but many of our use of force decrees mirror NYS law (where the term 'reasonable' is used many times).
Oh sure, we see and hear about miniature weiner dogs having rabies all the time. lol...
Your spin is speeding up the rotation of the planet ... Please stop.
And then take a really hard look into this cops past. Bet the rent, this guy is carrying some luggage.
the rabies point was in response to some idiot saying that a toddler poses the same amount of risk this dog did. how’s that for spin?
I’ve seen your spin and comments here, and your attempts to rationalize this, being your clear motive here.
No sale slick.
Fire the cop. No excuses.
have also said many time that i see it as an overreaction. but you people see what you want to see.
lol...You've been attempting to rationalize this from the time you started posting on this thread, and now you deny it?
Come on...Ya think everyone out here is stoopid?
A standard you have not met, and lack the integrity to admit. Your position has been universally condemned here. I have no doubt you could find others in your career to agree with you, but then the question becomes who are you to tell everyone not in your career field YOUR standard of "reasonable" is superior to the great majority outside the law industry.
There is the nub of the entire conflict. Those inside the law industry embrace lying, intimidation, duplicity, and prevarication as requirements of their profession. Those of us who do not live by such low standards rightly recoil from such practices.
It would seem the only way for practitioners of the law industry to even the emotional balances of "being bad to protect good" is to assign a lack of "understanding" to good and reasonable critics of their behavior
Think of a stripper that goes to church. She wants to be "good" and refuses to accept the inherent immorality of her job even if she never touches or is touched by anyone.
ha! by who? people who flock to the bad-cop threads? not much of a random sample you have there.
the turth is there is a difference between cops and non-cops in terms of the authority bestowed upon cops by the state/federal gov't.
but most of what has been discussed here in terms of the use of deadly force applies to both cops and non-cops. and that is according to the law, not any dept guidelines.
*nom nom nom*
No excuses. You are held to a higher standard.
That is a scary trend.
It's like no one is supposed to say a word against law enforcement or authority, and we should just shut up and bend over.
To be honest, I am totally pro-law enforcement, but I will question them and their authority without hesitation, and everyone should do the same. If authority is not questioned on a regular basis, there is little to keep them in check.
Stories like this are a perfect example. I personally would not want to live in an area, where someone was given a weapon and authority, and then shoots a neighbors tiny weiner dog, alleging it was threat, when *clearly* the only threat in this story is the cop himself.
It doesn't actually have to be a random sample. The question you must answer is "If I were full of crap, what would someone have to say to me to prove it?" If you have no credible answer, even if you are full of crap no one will be able to prove it to you because you wouldn't recognize it if they did.
You have taken up a position where you are "right by definition," but the only person you have to convince of that is yourself. Foolishly, you seem to expect us to go along with the weak philosophical excuses you accept implicitly.
“ha! by who? people who flock to the bad-cop threads? not much of a random sample you have there.”
Bad cops make their own headlines factor.I really didn’t find out you were a cop till this thread.But you revealed yourself today!You didn’t answer my post on another thread when I asked you if you were a cop.
You’re exactly,w/o a doubt the perfect picture of the kind of cop the American public could do w/o.The truth is the public doesn’t care for overpaid brain-dead community servants that believe they don’t have to answer to noone.Especially,the public!
You’ve already segregated yourself from ordinary law abiding citizens on every thread I’ve seen you on.And I don’t give a damn what your dept guidelines say and most people on here don’t either.Communities need to hire human beings w/a brain that can think for themselves..and less of them cause they’re overstaffed w/people like you.
I expect to see a lot of you.. beating up on law biding citizens on a blog...telling people what’s right and what’s wrong but never convincing noone.These people already know what’s right...I’d think the officer that killed the house dog is really lucky that a man w/big nuts wasn’t home and take that pistol away that officer(and I use that loosely)and give him good ass-whipping!
The sad fact is over the past fifty years nearly all the characteristics that made Police work an honorable calling have been superseded by the evolving requirements of the job.
so i simply replied that it didn't matter which one of the two i happened to be because you would have disdain for me either way. but if you had asked like a normal person i would have replied like a normal person.
i have many friends around here. i go to as many local rallies as i can, offer to liase with the cops so there are no misunderstandings as to who we are.
i have zero citizen complaints against me and i have zero department disciplinary issues. i am a great cop who helps a lot more people than i hurt. and i have been around here a LOT longer than you. so relax.
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