Posted on 07/18/2011 6:49:02 PM PDT by Immerito
MS Police Officer Shoots Chained Dog Six Times March 23, 2011
In Gulfport, MS, police were called to a subdivision to investigate a possible break-in. During the course of the investigation, an officer went into the backyard of a neighbor’s home where she encountered the owner’s chained dog. The owner, who was just coming outside to get his dog, says the officer was standing approximately 30 feet from the end of the dog’s chain when she put half a dozen bullets in the dog.
Samuel Lovato rushed his beloved pet – named Melmo – to the vet but the injuries were too extensive and euthanasia was performed in order to relieve Melmo’s suffering. Mr. Lovato:
“I’ve had her for 11 years. Eleven years. She was a great dog, a good dog and she was just in her yard doing her job and just being a dog.”
Police will investigate themselves, as usual:
Police are looking into the incident, according to Lt. Craig Petersen with the Gulfport Police Department.
“First, we need to conduct our internal investigation,” Lt. Petersen said. “I feel really bad for the gentleman and the loss of his dog, but we’ll conduct the internal investigation.”
He also said that officers have to make life and death decisions in an instant, including assessing threats from animals.
“The officer has discretion in how to protect themselves in these situations, totally up to the officer based on the facts and circumstances of that particular case.”
Sound like they’ve already got the “Justified Killing” stamp all inked up? But wait, there’s more:
There is no timetable for when the investigation will be completed. The officer involved in the shooting remains on active duty.
So I guess it’s ‘Gulfport dog owners, hide your dogs’? Maybe while you’re at it, hide your kids too. I hate to think of a kid being in a yard with a dog where half a dozen bullets are flying.
...keeping the dog chained up all the time in the back yard and never allowed inside is what I meant.
Don’t believe everything you read on the internets or that’s forwarded via email. That’s simply not true.
How in the world could someone shoot a dog six times and not kill the dog?
And even if the dog wasn’t chained, the cop should have held her fire unless the dog attacked first. The cop needs to be fired. Her judgement is too poor to be wandering around carrying a gun.
That makes me really angry. I keep my dog safely in the house, but my concrete alligator is out there, vulnerable...
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It is, however, considered to be a felony in many places (and a misdemeanor in others) to kill a police dog.
In the old days, cops knew and abided by Robert Peel’s Principles:
1) The basic mission for which the police exist is to prevent crime and disorder.
2) The ability of the police to perform their duties is dependent upon the public approval of police actions.
3) Police must secure the willing co-operation of the public in voluntary observation of the law to be able to secure and maintain the respect of the public.
4) The degree of co-operation of the public that can be secured diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force.
5) Police seek and preserve public favor not by catering to public opinion, but by constantly demonstrating absolute impartial service to the law.
6) Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice, and warning is found to be insufficient.
7) Police, at all times, should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and the public are the police; the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent upon every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.
8) Police should always direct their action strictly towards their functions, and never appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary.
9) The test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action in dealing with it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2672663/posts
Target practice.
I’m defending the idea that you need to know all of the facts before jumping to conclusions and pointing out alternative scenarios that would be possible that would make the shooting justified.
Why are you so interested in attacking the officer with minimal facts surrounding the reasons why the officer was there doing what she was doing?
One of the problems we have in our country is the easy accusations that can be levelled at everyone for everything, to the great destruction of reputations and lives. No one is ever patient enough to allow the facts to be learned before passing judgement. I object to that, especially in this kind of scenario.
Obviously, if the shooting was not justified by any kind of self defense of law enforcement purpose, it should be dealt with accordingly, but we don’t know enough, and I am not willing to trash another human being without knowing more, that’s all.
Sorry if that sounds unreasonable.
How was an officer in any danger from a chained dog 30 feet away?
The dog could not get to the officer. The dog did not bite the officer.
The officer was not even called to that residence. The cop was at the neighbor’s house—not the house of the resident who called the cops in the first place.
“I think the officer did not know the chain was thirty feet long. If so, then you have a point, but if not, then she needs some slack at least as long as the slack in the chain.”
Secondly, when a dog on a chain goes to investigate a threat, the chain is typically either fully or nearly taut, depending on what is around the dog (trees, poles, etc), the chain may not go out to its full length in any case, so a fully or nearly taut chain may not be the chain’s actual length—even less of a reason to fear a chained dog.
This dog was an eleven year old dog. This is not a young, active pup.
This officer does not belong in a uniform. If she is terrified of eleven year old chained dogs, then she needs to be in another line of work.
“I think the officer did not know the chain was thirty feet long. If so, then you have a point, but if not, then she needs some slack at least as long as the slack in the chain.”
First of all, I remind you that the cop was trespassing on the neighbor’s property.
Secondly, when a dog on a chain goes to investigate a threat, the chain is typically either fully or nearly taut, depending on what is around the dog (trees, poles, etc), the chain may not go out to its full length in any case, so a fully or nearly taut chain may not indicate the chain’s actual length if it is wrapped around other objects. If it is the case that the chain is wrapped around other obstacles, the dog is rendered even less of a threat and there is even less of a reason to fear a chained dog.
This dog was an eleven year old dog. This is not a young, active pup.
This officer does not belong in a uniform. If she is terrified of eleven year old chained dogs, then she needs to be in another line of work.
I know that.
But, some years ago, when cop-on-dog massacres started to either a) become more common, or b) get more press, the myth of a “murder” charge was given life and continues to this day.
Note to LEO’s - GET SOME GOD DAMN TRAINING IN ANIMAL BEHAVIOR! This shit has got to STOP!
That's how Ruby Ridge started.
Once again, it's a female cop who loses control....
Sue his pants off.
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