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.
The whole incident is sad. It appears as if the cops overreacted, but then again, they had a report of a possible robbery and a car doing 100mph. The report was erroneous, but he cops didn't know that at the time. They have well defined procedures that are tailored for different situations. The question is whether they followed proper procedure for a possible robbery, and I would think they assume ALL robberies as possibly armed amd dangerous.
Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. The worst you can get (to the best of my knowledge) is discharging a firearm in city limits, maybe willful distruction of private property. Personally, I'd like to change this. But then you run into other issues, which can get completely out of hand.
You won't shoot my dog if it's in my car or we're out for a walk, 'cause I've got my Glock .9 with me.
And I'll kill anybody who tries to harm my dog.
Count on it.
Over 4000 unborn children are slaughtered each day, and you ninnies are getting worked up over a dog who should have stayed in the car and was shot........
Wow, that's quite the non sequitur.
Am I understanding your point correctly? If Roe v. Wade were overturned and abortion were illegal, THEN I wouldn't be a ninny for being concerned about the use of deadly force on the part of the police in this case? I wouldn't have thought the two issues to be mutually exclusive, or even connected.
The suspects were doing what the police were ordering them to do. They were neither combative or beligerant or as far as I can hear even direspectful. If their dog can wind up dead at the hands of a police officer in a situation where everyone is trying to comply with what the police are ordering them to do, well, I find that to be a troubling proposition.
God forbid they hadn't understood the police instructions, or had made a sudden move prior to the shooting. And it's by the grace of God alone that none of these innocent people were subsequently shot once the officer discharged his shotgun and in the emotion and true confusion of that moment, they stood up shouting about their dog. This could have been much, much worse, and it deserves scrutiny.
I just watched the CNN version of the video tape. I have also seen the unedited raw footage. There is no comparison between the two. The CNN footage has been edited to put the police in the worst light and does NOT SHOW THE ENTIRE EVENT. The ZOOM in on the shooting police officer is an artifact of the editor's creative use of his zoom stick. It removes from the picture the leap of the dog AT VERY CLOSE RANGE to the officer... and the cut right before it eliminates the officer backing up, retreating before the charging dog.
This is editoral MALPRACTICE!
You mean I could of shot my neighbors dog because it lept up at me to get petted? Every dog I've encountered 'leaps' up on you to get petted. This cop obvisouly needs to be out in the real world a little more...without his loaded gun.
What a friggin steroid pumped moron that cop is. That little dog was wagging his tail and looking for someone to play with. There was absolutely nothing about the dogs body language that indicating the slightest threat to anyone. The dog even ran past the officers over to the side of the road then turned and trotted over, tail still wagging.
This is just plain wrong and no amount of "procedure" will explain it.
Although I share your sentiments (precisely share them). You missed my point entirely. LEGALLY anyone can shoot your dog, and the consequences are minimal. If you retaliate and return fire, YOU are punished. Hence, cowards and sadists know they can hurt you by killing a loved pet.
If laws are made to protect pets, then are we giving animals the same level of protection as humans. So, if you shoot a nuisance rat, squirrel, pidgeon, snake ... will you serve time in jail. How do we differentiate extending legal protection to pets, without crippling varmit control?
Personally, if you shoot my pet; you may have just as well shot my wife or kids. Just like you, my revenge will be cold, hard and permanent at a time of my chosing.
If your dog is large enough, loose, and threatens me or any member of my family, your dog is going down hard. If you want to continue the stupidity and take murderous vengeance on someone who acted to protect themselves from your mangy cur, then be prepared to rot in jail (or fry, if you live in Texas or Florida).
I love my own dogs. But I never forget they are animals--not humans. And I also remember they are none-too-bright and must be well trained to curb the instinct to attack people outside the "pack." Even then they run the risk going to the Big Sleep early if they attack or threaten to attack innocent people.
Kudos to Virginia for having thought of this. Thanks for the info.
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