Posted on 04/30/2008 5:59:16 AM PDT by Crim
RALEIGH - A hearing into the firing of a state trooper accused of mistreating his police dog opened today with a video of the officer kicking the dog as it was suspended from the railing of a loading dock. The 15-second video, taken by another trooper using his cell phone, shows Sgt. Charles L. Jones kicking the dog, Ricoh, five times. The dog was tied to the railing by its leash at the time, with its front paws in the air and its rear paws touching the ground. With each kick, the dog swung about two feet under the dock.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsobserver.com ...
Shock collars are often used as training aids when the dog is being trained to work off leash. Not sure a taser could be used in a similar way, but I’m not going to say it can’t.
It’s quite possible they are used to shock a dog off a “perp” when he ignores a release or stop command. I don’t see a problem with that. If you are going to train an aggressive dog to take down a person, you really do need them to stop when told, not when they feel like it. KWIM?
ty!
UF fan?
I'm not connected with law enforcement. But unlike many on Freerepublic I don't automatically paint them with the "jackbooted thug" label. I think this story is typical of the left's reporting of law enforcement stories. Always present police in the most negative way possible. As to what he "admitted" here's what the article says:
Jones claims the episode on Aug. 8 was not mistreatment. He contends that he was fired summarily without due process and has appealed to get his job back. In a deposition earlier this month, a senior officer with the patrol said that Gov. Mike Easley's office pressured the agency to fire Jones.
Here's some further information from this story:
Police dogs can be lethal weapons, and Jones contends that training them to obey commands can be a rough business. He argues that once his tactics were recorded on video, there was no way public officials from the governor on down would acknowledge that they were accepted practice.
"You cannot cite any training, any policy, any protocol that Sgt. Jones has violated — because there isn't any," said Jones' attorney, Jack O'Hale, as he questioned the man who upheld Jones' dismissal, North Carolina Crime Control and Public Safety Secretary Bryan Beatty.
I'm betting he was taught to train dogs exactly this way but politicians find it more expedient to disavow this to cover their butts politically rather than acknowledge that yes, it is a rough business to train police dogs. They are not pets and the same rules don't apply.
Bottom line is the dog was being trained, not abused. It wouldn't let go when it was being told to let go. It's a situation that has to be trained out or as you say, the dog wouldn't be a good for the job. But considering how they've probably already invested thousands of dollars into its training it's more practical to train the behavior out.
And again, if this were some cop stringing up a dog for no good reason except for the sadistic pleasure of kicking it then that's one thing, but in context that's not what's going on but the story is written, portrayed and people are reacting to it in exactly that way.
We all know most cops are good, it is just that the bad ones seem to make the headlines and our memories.
I can understand the use of a shock collar...but a Taser? They are designed and metered specifically for an instantaneous, non-lethal effect on a human being. While I could imagine an officer on a call who was being attacked by a dog employing his Taser (I'd think a sidearm would be a better choice in that situation), I really doubt canine training was given any consideration in the Taser's design. I can't imagine a K9 unit's veterinarian sanctioning its use, and given the cost of these dogs, it is, if nothing else, taking a big risk with the tax-payer's dollars.
Keep in mind that by the time these dogs go to a department and start working, they've already been through extensive familiarization and training elsewhere with their handlers. Any training done at the department is sustainment or recertification training, and normally, any dog that won't let up with voice command alone should probably have long since been weeded out.
Judges get letters written to them all the time & they read them . They will take those letters into account when judging a person. Guess you have never worked in a courthouse. They get lots of mail.
Did you see this yet? Pandy
Not to far from where I live we had a cop starve his cop dog to death, No charges yet???
Carolyn
the man is a low life creep...a sicko...how did he even make the grade to be a state trooper, let alone get a dog?
You guess wrong.
And I could care less. You can yell it to the mountains not to pester judges & as for your comment to another poster about it being unAmerican is just laughable. Does your dog bite you?
Don’t discount the possibility that a reporter translates shock collar into “taser” much like they translate gun into “submachinegun”. Coulda been a cattle prod for that matter and they’d still probably call it a taser.
By contemporary editorial standards, it might have actually been an otter, and not an actual dog.
Pity it wasn't a wolverine.
LOL!
http://www.wral.com/asset/news/local/2008/06/05/2996093/Judge's_Decision.swf
***The dog appeared to remain loyal to Jones, Herndon said. “I think [Ricoh] wanted to go with [Jones],” he said.”***
If you accidentally step backwards onto your dog’s foot, he will hop to you and beg you to forgive HIM. If you walk away from him, he will follow you and want to make up. Thus is the manner of a dog with his master. I am NOT impressed with the statement above from the other officer.
Well..I wasnt lobbying the Judge...but the ruling is clearly disturbing...
But hardly surprising...
If anyone here had done that..and the judge had seen the video...we’d allready be in jail...
We’re all equal...some just a little more..
performance.solutions@osp.nc.gov
I sent them a polite e-mail saying that if this policeman would do that to an animal, what do you think he would do to a human? I certainly would not want him on my local or state police force.
Carolyn
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