Killing of family dog unfolds on videotape (Dog shooter gets desk duty)

tennessean.com ^ | 1/9/03 | LEON ALLIGOOD

[Rebelbase]

Three minutes and seven seconds tells the story of a dog named Patton.

The dog, which was shot at close range Jan. 1 by a Cookeville policeman during a felony traffic stop, belonged to the James Smoak family of Saluda, N.C. At the time, the Tennessee Highway Patrol suspected the Smoaks

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Yep - the people were covered and down - all that was left were dogs.

I can handle any dog, even a mean one, with a billy club or maglite.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

What an idiot! Why didn't he just punch the dog in the nose? Guess he's never owned dogs.

[motzman]

The guy probably would have never become a cop if he didn't have the power to play with his toys whenever he wanted to

Most likely; especially rural cops...any excuse to break out the shotty is always good for an extra beer at the bar. Wonder what this guy would have said if he wasn't caught on tape?

[Joe Hadenuf]

You bet. And I would also say that it's a safe bet, the other LEOS on the scene were pretty damn pissed off when the idiot let loose on the shotgun, as they all jumped, and could have easily unloaded on the *family member suspects*. This has happened many times in the past, where during a critical moment, a loud noise or gunshot triggers a volley of gunfire at the suspects......

[motzman]

I was cornered by a Doberman when I was a teenager once, and when the dog came at me, I gave him (basically) a football style place-kick to the chops. With Timberland boots on.

That dog took off fast!

But I was scared to death and hyperventilating during the incident!

[motzman]

Even though the dog's death was tragic, this is the worst part of the story:


Even so, the THP officers did not act inappropriately by making the felony stop, according to an internal investigation.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Have you ever seen what kind of minor bite a small dog such as a forty-pound pitbull can inflict?

Have you ever seen a sucking chest wound on a 38 year old woman, as she lay dying?

This idiot that blasted the small dog, at a critical moment, could have easily triggered a volley of rounds into the *family member suspects*.If you watch the video tape, you can clearly see all the LEOS jump at the sound of the shotgun blast. This family was close to being killed.

And this would not be the first time this happened. If this police officer is that afraid of small dogs, he should not be in law enforcement. Period.

[Travis McGee]

It looks like the TN police found a compliant dept to do the "independent" 3rd party review. Someone should tell them the MD dept cleared the FBI agent in blowing the eagle scout's face off with an M-16 point blank at a mistaken traffic stop when the victim was trying to both "FREEZE! DON'T MOVE!" and "GET OUT! GET OUT NOW" as multiple commands were screamed at him. He trie to unbuckle his seat belt and the FBI SWAT agent shot him in the face.

[fogarty]

Once again, it appears these officers will be let off with a letter of reprimand (maybe) and assignment to a different beat.

[motzman]

Yep....

[joebuck]

"It just a fact of human nature that when you give someone special toys or powers they become itching to use them."

When your only tool is a hammer, pretty soon everything starts looking like a nail.

[Rebelbase]

"I also recognize that EVERY large barrel contains some bad apples -- and SOME cops are “cowboys.” Some are simply power driven megalomaniacs who would have dropped on the OTHER side of the law had their lives drifted a degree or two off the course they did take. "

Its a damn shame these scumbags taint the profession for the good ones. The woman officer changing the car tire is an example of "protect and serve". If all cops were like her, Cops would be bigger heros than fireman.

[clamper1797]

My loyalty is to the US Constitution. Their oath is to protect and serve. When they have departed from that oath, they need to be held accountable. Let me make my point clear again: when cops trample on the Constitution of the United States, then in my mind it makes them domestic enemies. It is black or white in my mind.

I could NOT agree with you more Sir

[smith288]

Call 911 if you need to people to clean-up and take evidence after the rape, murder, robbery, etc.

If you want to truly protect yourself and your property, get yourself a firearm.

I have my own firearm... But I know this isnt the wild west. 911 is an arm of law enforcement, you call them dumb so dont ever call them when you need them since they are lesser than dogs. 911 is a great resource for emergencies like heart attacks, shots fired in the neighborhood and riot or street brawls... No, Mr smarty pants will play town sheriff rather than get the "dumb cops" to resolve the matter.

There is far more good cops than bad to reject the all cops who are putting their lives on the line for your ungrateful ass. Do me a favor Mr Know-it-all, and ignore a cops orders, since obviously they are dumber than dogs. It would definately please me if you did.

You an anarchist or just an ignorant ingrate?

[GovernmentShrinker]

If I was the cop who was holding the car door, lookinginside, saying "there's a dog in here", I'd have shut the door. I have a lot more sympathy for the cop who fired the shot, than for the cop (as yet unnamed, in any account I've read) whose negligence in leaving the door open created the problem of the loose dog in the first place. Imagine if that HAD been a vicious pit bull trained by its habitual felon owner, and it had attacked and seriously wounded one of the officers before any of them could shoot it. THEN what would the police department be doing about the officer who thought it was just fine to leave the car door open after he noticed a large dog inside?

[Wolfstar]

What you do prior to 3:05 is close the car doors to make sure the dogs can't get out and interfere with your "felony" stop. And if you're too wimpy and afraid of dogs to do it yourself, you let one of the family do it. Also, there are other non-fatal ways to stop a dog from charging you (if, in fact, that's what the dog was doing). But cops can get away with killing pets with total impunity, because there are no consequences. Most pets are considered to be property with little, if any, intrinisc value. This sort of thing happens more frequently than folks might imagine.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

I saw the video.
It was just a little yapper of a dog and was
not threatening anyone.

[freeper12]

>>we should give police officer the benefit of the doubt

Why?

[freeper12]

>>There is far more good cops than bad

Yea, well maybe when the good cops stop defending the bad cops, the good cops will be recognized as such...until then, they are all guilty by association, imo.