Chicago police must pay 330k for killing dog in home raid

The Lookout ^ | 08192011 | LIz Goodwin

[Artemis Webb]

A federal jury says Chicago law enforcement must pay $330,000 to a family after officers shot their dog during a home raid that turned up no illegal activity.

Thomas Russell, then 18, opened the door to his home in February 2009 to find police officers with their guns drawn. He asked if he could lock up his 9-year-old black labrador, named Lady, before letting the officers inside. The Chicago Tribune describes what happened next:

Police refused the request and came into the house, the lawsuit said. When Lady came loping around the corner with her tail wagging, Officer Richard Antonsen shot the dog, according to the suit, which alleged excessive force, false arrest and illegal seizure for taking the dog's life.

The cops handcuffed Russell and his 16-year-old brother, and eventually charged Russell with obstructing their operation. He was found not guilty. According to NBC, the jury awarded $175,000 to Russell, $85,000 to his little brother, and $35,000 each to the brothers' parents. The officer who shot the dog owes $2,000 in damages, and his supervisor owes $1,000, according to NBC.

[The Antiyuppie]

“Over my 28 plus years as a police officer, I have been confronted on several occasions by dogs. Without exception, I tried my best to fend off the dog with whatever was present, a trashcan lid or a fence or my coat, whatever. In all those years, I have yet to shoot a dog (and I don’t like dogs).”

Just a good loud yell and stamping your feet will scare 99% of the meanest dogs. It’s too bad that most police nowadays never get the opportunity to learn this, because shooting is just so much easier.

[paul51]

the police aren't paying jack....other than the $3K. The taxpayers will get stuck paying it. The COPS should go to jail....or have the option of paying the award themselves.

[Surrounded_too]

There will be a lot of animal destruction if they enforce Martial Law or use extra legal, executive controlled, Gestapo-like forces and they will get away with it.

That’s a terror tactic to gain psychological control. A lot of people could be destroyed, too, for resisting tyranny.

[Mad Dawg]

To be more specific, the bulk of the settlement should be paid with deductions from the salaries of administrative personnel, and down the chain of command to the guy who shot the dog. The rest should come from whoever appointed the chief of police.

[Boogieman]

The dog killing is bad, but what is worse is that they tried to frame the 2 kids afterwards to cover their own behinds. Better to send some innocent citizens to jail and possibly give them a criminal record than admit you went to the wrong house and apologize. People wonder why I don’t trust Chicago cops!

[T-Bird45]

Damn shame the trigger happy cop didn’t have to shell out more than 2k.

If that had happened to my family and dog, the paying would have just begun -- draw your own conclusions.

[RC one]

they should be confined in a mental ward and given lots of medications to control their psychotic behavior. I sat in on a mental health eval for a cop that got just that once. It was fun watching him being involuntarily confined in a mental asylum for being an a**hole. I was loving it.

[doc1019]

Obviously you have never meant a dog that was intent on biting you in the butt. LOL! Stumping, yelling ... nothing works short of putting up a barrier between you and it.

[piytar]

Thugcop kills a family pet for kicks, pays a pittance, and the taxpayers get screwed. I’d be upset, except most of the idiots in Chicago vote Marxist, so my givead@mn is broken in this case.

[icanhasbailout]

All these payouts should come out of the police’s budget.

They'll simply steal more to make up for it.

The officer belongs in jail at the minimum for animal cruelty, reckless/wanton destruction of property, false imprisonment.

As long as LEOs are held to a different legal standard than citizens this kind of thing will continue, and escalate. Eventually all citizens will view LEOs with the same level of suspicion and hostility that they would view any other organization if criminals.

[walkingdead]

Cops...... absolutely worthless. Give me my full 2nd admendment rights and you can do away with the lot of them. Totally useless in my opinion.

Sure there may be good ones but whats the point? They do not protect you, and the good ones, who really do try to serve and protect are usually hamstrung by politics.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Our militarized “Law Enforcement” is the standing army our Founders feared.

[Ronin]

Just a good loud yell and stamping your feet will scare 99% of the meanest dogs. It’s too bad that most police nowadays never get the opportunity to learn this, because shooting is just so much easier.

And fun. Lots of US cops these days, especially the younger ones, seem to be on power trips. I personally blame the war on drugs and the SWAT mentality, but there might be more to it than that.

[100American]

Having lived in Chicago for 15 I will tel you the Police there are overly aggressive and almost always looking for a reason to use force.

When I lived there I tried to be very polite whenever interfacing with them, they are hair trigger and itching to use deadly force whenever possible

[Secret Agent Man]

I believe many owners would rather they be awarded a free shot at the officer that shot their dog.

[Secret Agent Man]

No.

If that is true you are sincerely f#@cked if you have a pet.

Mentioning the dog is to not have the police shoot the dog because they then can’t be surprised by it.

If you don’t mention it they can shoot it because they didn’t know it was there and it surprisedthem. If you do mention it by your logic they’ll shoot it because you want to lock it up.

They can’t have it both ways. Then there’s no way for you to be able to protect your animal.

And believe me, they do this to other animals. I still remember the female police officer who kicked the family cat across a room and said you’re lucky I didn’t shoot it.

[dog breath]

I can’t argue with the verdict except to agree the officer should of had to pay more.

[dragnet2]

The problem might be, the homeowner instinctively requesting to secure the dog...Knowing they’d shoot the dog otherwise.

No. If that is true you are sincerely f#@cked if you have a pet. Mentioning the dog is to not have the police shoot the dog because they then can’t be surprised by it. If you don’t mention it they can shoot it because they didn’t know it was there and it surprisedthem.

Uh...Thanks for that tip.

[brent13a]

There will be a lot of animal destruction if they enforce Martial Law or use extra legal, executive controlled, Gestapo-like forces and they will get away with it.

That’s a terror tactic to gain psychological control. A lot of people could be destroyed, too, for resisting tyranny.

--------------------------------

Our militarized “Law Enforcement” is the standing army our Founders feared.

While I agree that in this day and age there are too many of us being hired that have "power trip" issues and honestly shouldn't be in law enforcement my main question would be exactly what gives the Federal Government, even in a "Martial Law" situation the right to give any local deputy or police officer direct orders to do anything?

I know half of my department who would laugh, toss a middle finger at the Fed Bureaucrat and leave our badges spinning while we left with all our gear to go and protect our families against said federal tyranny.

Nonetheless I know of no policy for any department around here (including my own) that would relinquish command in part or in whole to any Fed whom was trying to go against the citizens' constitutional rights. We're not military, we're not wholly owned by "The Government" like the military. We're sworn citizens that have a job. I can legally and willingly and would question a Federal Bureaucrat's orders, a Fed or military person cannot.

I can think of no situation nor any law where my Chief, nor any officer would allow his command to be absolved and our department become "gestapo" in the name of Government Tyranny.

I know a lot of law enforcement officers. Saying willy-nilly that "the police would become gestapo drones" is assuming a lot and without precedence here in the US. I just can't fathom the process by which any local police agency would simply relinquish itself to a "nazi-like regime".

I mean, even at the lowest level, for instance, every police department has different SOP's. Every police department has different types of training. Every state has different laws regarding police powers. How exactly could the police become a "standing army"? There is absolutely no way hundreds or even just tens of departments could effectively work together as a "standing army". It's logistically impossible. Half of the police departments in the US have mediocre equipment at best and there are many normal non-LEO citizens that have way more firepower than most police departments.

I just don't see any logic in how the Feds could conscript all local law enforcement into one giant gestapo army. It's simply logistically impossible. It would be a mess and such a thing would be destroyed quickly. It would be suicide for any police officer to submit to being a "nazi-drone of the government".

[brent13a]

Also, I have a strong feeling that if the US Government tried such an unconstitutional "martial law" takeover of the citizenry I believe that they would also disarm and disband most local law enforcement agencies. I really don't think they would even attempt to make then "gestapo-drones".

It would be too much of a liability.