Pardon me, you have no idea what "my kind" is.
impossible to reason with
You have declared this an open and shut case and seem unwilling to reason..
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Posted on 01/09/2003 7:29:12 AM PST by FlyingA
As family shrieks, police kill dog Wednesday, January 8, 2003 Posted: 10:26 PM EST (0326 GMT)
COOKEVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) -- Police video released Wednesday showed a North Carolina family kneeling and handcuffed, who shrieked as officers killed their dog -- which appeared to be playfully wagging its tail -- with a shotgun during a traffic stop.
The Smoak family was pulled over the evening of January 1 on Interstate 40 in eastern Tennessee by officers who mistakenly suspected them of a carjacking. An investigation showed James Smoak had simply left his wallet on the roof of his car at a gas station, and motorists who saw his money fly off the car as he drove away called police.
The family was driving through eastern Tennessee on their way home from a New Year's trip to Nashville. They told CNN they are in the process of retaining a lawyer and considering legal action against the Cookeville, Tennessee, Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol for what happened to them and their dog.
In the video, released by the THP, officers are heard ordering the family, one by one, to get out of their car with their hands up. James Smoak and his wife, Pamela, and 17-year-old son Brandon are ordered onto their knees and handcuffed.
"What did I do?" James Smoak asks the officers.
"Sir, inside information is that you was involved in some type of robbery in Davidson County," the unidentified officer says.
Smoak and his wife protest incredulously, telling the officers that they are from South Carolina and that their mother and father-in-law are traveling in another car alongside them.
The Smoaks told CNN that as they knelt, handcuffed, they pleaded with officers to close the doors of their car so their two dogs would not escape, but the officers did not heed them.
Pamela Smoak is seen on the tape looking up at an officer, telling him slowly, "That dog is not mean. He won't hurt you."
Her husband says, "I got a dog in the car. I don't want him to jump out."
The tape then shows the Smoak's medium-size brown dog romping on the shoulder of the Interstate, its tail wagging. As the family yells, the dog, named Patton, first heads away from the road, then quickly circles back toward the family.
An officer in a blue uniform aims his shotgun at the dog and fires at its head, killing it immediately. For several moments, all that is audible are shrieks as the family reacts to the shooting. James Smoak even stands up, but officers pull him back down.
"Y'all shot my dog! Y'all shot my dog!" James Smoak cries. "Oh my God! God Almighty!" "You shot my dog!" screams his wife, distraught and still handcuffed. "Why'd you kill our dog?" "Jesus, tell me, why did y'all shoot my dog?" James Smoak says.
The officers bring him to the patrol car, and the family calms down, but still they ask the officers for an explanation. One of them says Patton was "going after" the officer.
"No he wasn't, man," James Smoak says. "Y'all didn't have to kill the dog like that."
Brandon told CNN Patton, was playful and gentle -- "like Scooby-Doo" -- and may have simply gone after the beam of the flashlight as he often did at home, when Brandon and the dog would play. The Tennessee Department of Safety, which oversees the Highway Patrol, has said an investigation is under way.
Cookeville Police Chief Robert Terry released a statement on the department's Web site Wednesday night describing the department's regret over the incident.
"I know the officer wishes that circumstances could have been different so he could have prevented shooting the dog," Terry wrote. "It is never gratifying to have to put an animal down, especially a family pet, and the officer assures me that he never displayed any satisfaction in doing so." Terry said he and the vice-mayor of Cookeville met with the family before they left "to convey our deepest sympathies" for the loss of their dog.
"No one wants to experience this kind of thing, and it's very unfortunate that it occurred," he wrote. "If we had the benefit of hindsight, I'm sure some -- if not all of this -- could have been avoided. I believe the Tennessee Highway Patrol feels the same way."
The department is conducting an investigation to determine what, if anything, could have been done differently, he said. Police also plan to be in contact with the Smoak family, Terry said. The Smoaks buried their pet at home. A white cross marks the grave.
Apples and oranges. When a car hits a dog it's an accident. When a policeman shoots a dog even though the situation was clearly avoidable, that's not an accident.
Pardon me, you have no idea what "my kind" is.
impossible to reason with
You have declared this an open and shut case and seem unwilling to reason..
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I think I'll bookmark this comment, and ping you after the family is (and make no mistake they will be) awarded a sizable settlement.
There's a reason why police and military use German Shepards, as they are VERY protective and attack on instinct. As you reached forward, you probably startled him and he simply reacted. With any potentially dangerous dog, you have to look them in they eye first, talk to them, read their disposition, then SLOWLY put out your hand while speaking in a reassuring voice. You probably simply walked up and reached down, causing the dog to perceive you as a threat.
In this case, as the video demonstrates, the dog was walking around in a curious playful manner, and was not prancing about or barking. If it had been a Shepard, he would have lunged out of the car menacingly while barking.
Why don't you let us all in on how you came up with the conclusion that this family returning from vacation were thugs?
The dog came out and made a beeline for the cop. The cop was backing up when the dog lunged out of the right hand corner of the frame at the cop. It took three seconds from when the dog left the car. It was not "walking around in a curious playful manner".
As for the shephard, I knew what I was doing as I have had shephards in the past. I'm was well aware of what I was doing. As I said previously, I exercise cautious confidence around all dogs. That's why he didn't get to take my nose off.
Take another look at the video. The dog comes out of the car, runs off towards the guardrail wagging his tail with no indication of viciousness such as snarling or barking, THEN presumably circles towards the cop off of the right side of the screen. Also notice the big brave policemen with shotguns pointed at the heads of the mother, father, and son, who were all on their knees handcuffed with hands behind their backs. It could have easily been one of them that had their heads blown off if either of the two cops with shotguns had sneezed. This is WAY over the edge, and these cops don't deserve to carry spit balls, let alone loaded guns.
And I know what you mean about some of the posts on these threads. It seems to me that some of the folks here are as bad as the police officers they condemn.
I'll say this to all of them.
I've been a cop for 17 years. I've seen people at their worst. I've seen them murder their spouses, their own children and their parents. I've seen them lie on the stand, cheat, steal, rape and everything else you can imagine. And probably some things you can't imagine.
I've been insulted by them and returned no insult. I've been assaulted by them just because I wear a uniform. Given them money out of my own pocket to help them out and prayed with them in their homes.
I've seen police officers do these types of things day in and day out and get no recognition for it. And they really don't care to have recognition. They do it because they enjoy helping people.
But I know all people are not evil. I know we are all human and we all make mistakes, I've made enough of my own.
I don't think it's right to condemn all cops because of the actions of some, just as I don't condemn all people because of the actions of some.
Probably require micro surgery for two reasons
Why point guns at people that are on their knees and handcuffed? Did they expect them to shoot laser beams out of their eye sockets, or that they would assume other superhuman properties as in the Matrix?
See, there's the problem.
I was quoting matthew_the_brain. I forgive your mistake. No harm done. . . no dead dogs or anything like that..
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