[Altariel]

Update:

So, after waiting for local outrage to die down, the expected Official Pardon was given:

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Hammond-Police-Determine-K-9-Officer-Didnt-Abuse-Dog-259828851.html

“We do not feel in this case that the dog was abused in any way,” Vohne Liche Kennels said in a statement. “The handler’s technique was not the way he was taught but was not abuse.”

[Salamander]

The thin blue line is really a closed, defensive circle.