Man Wants Punishment for Dog Shooting

AJC.com ^ | 01-10-03 | JOHN GEROME

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

And a lot of pit-bulls are short statured like that. I heard that it was a bulldog, which in that amount of time could be mistaken.

Sorry EBUCK old boy. No confusion possible.

Pit Bull

Bulldog

Now. The owner said it was a Bullgog-Boxer mix. I'll give you that. The Boxer mix would have longer legs than a Bulldog. If it was a Pit Bull...that animal, if it was attacking, would have headed straight for the officer at a run and would have been on him in 1 second flat. There wouldn't have been any 3-4 second delay. He wouldn't have had time to draw down on a Pit Bull that wanted his ass. There would have been no circling and tail wagging as is shown in the video.

I've said it on other threads and I'll say it here. The cop panicked and fired. Period. Now he doesn't have the balls to admit it. Either that or he is following the advice of counsel. Either way...being a cop on the street notwithstanding...he's a coward with no honor.

If he admitted that he panicked and screwed up, begging forgiveness from the owners, do you think there would be as much of a stink about this whole issue? I don't.

[montag813]

officer hall is an idiot

I hate to day it, but most policemen are very stupid.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

Watching the video brought me around a little to the cops side...and if you don't know me you should know that this is extremely rare...

So the cops were not negligent when they let the dog loose in the first place?

[Red Jones]

You're right that the officer should've done different. When the people they were arresting explained the problem with the dog they should've responded to close the car door. The guy Hall should've done something different rather than shoot the dog. I'd think he should've kicked the dog like you said or used his shotgun to keep the dog away without shooting the dog. It was very bad judgement and cowardly as well on the officer's part. But the officer didn't intend to kill the dog when the situation started. The officer got into this situation only because he was trying to do his job.

The fact that the police are taught to use deadly force as soon as they themselves feel any danger is a very bad policy in reality. Some of the cops have hair-triggers as a result of this idea. Some cops understand that it's their job to face danger and will put up with it in order to save others. Those cops are the quiet heros we don't hear about. But some cops are cowards in that situation. I'd have rather been bit by the dog than kill the dog when uncertain as to dog's intentions. If a cop can't tolerate a bit of danger, then get him out of the uniform.

If we prosecute cops when they screw up, then the cops will merely lie more than they already do and dig in against us and then they will de-police and recruits will be rare. We've got to get a different culture among the cops, but we still have to treat them fairly.

Sorry to disagree because I really don't like cops and I am so glad so many people agree with me on that point!

[chimera]

Still doesn't change the underlying problem which is how can this stop be justified to begin with.

I can see maybe they might have stopped the vehicle based on the earlier report (which was somewhat ambiguous but may have had an inkling of something strange going on with money flying about) just to clear things up, but given the circumstances, a family (with kids?) traveling with (non-pitbull) pet dogs, then obeying orders and doing what they were told, well, it would seem that even the most intellectually-challenged cop could conclude that there was likely no threat here.

And I don't see any justification for killing the dog. Cops kill a lot of dogs nowadays because they are trained to do so (i.e., JBT training) and they know there will be few, if any, legal repercussions to their getting their jollies by firing off their weapon and killing something. Unless that dog was on top of the officer doing him some serious harm, I don't see how killing it is in any way justified.

[Brian Mosely]

I don't think so...the guy seems has a bit of a leftist bent...I found an article about the guy that runs the site, he's a former reporter for the Houston Chronicle. The guy has got guts, I'll have to say...Cookeville isn't exactly friendly to prying eyes...this quote jumped out at me.

"These guys go after their enemies," claims the reporter. "It's politically motivated; it is the state police apparatus in the hands of a politician. Man, that's why I don't spend the night in Cookeville -- I always go somewhere else."

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

Now you feel bad but how could the situation have been avoided? He should have closed the car door but I imagine that training and procedure have made the officer immune to please from the accused...

I seem to recall a recent case where a suspect was caught with a dog in the car. They called animal control to take the dog away before they searched the vehicle. Took longer for animal control to come, but at least the dog was alive and the cop, nor anyone else was hurt. From the looks of the video this family was luckey they weren't shot for telling the cops to close the door!

[Centurion2000]

and the officer who pulled the trigger says he's been getting death threats.

Wow, I'm like fresh out of sympathy for this nazi scumbag.

[savedbygrace]

The people made it clear to the officers the dogs were in the car. They begged them to close the door so the dogs wouldn't get out.

For that reason, your explanation falls flat. The officers had an option they flew right past in their Rambo-haste.

The family will be awarded big bux for this one. Several officers are going have their careers ruined as a result. Not only the one who shot the dog, but starting with whoever got the 911 call, several will suffer for poor judgement. IMO.

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

I've never seen a cop yet that was'nt an arrogant bast*rd.Not only should they lose their jobs but should have their right to own a firearm permanently taken away!I imagine also that some"blackrobed thief"(judge)will cover for them.

[Wright is right!]

"And a lot of pit-bulls are short statured like that. I heard that it was a bulldog, which in that amount of time could be mistaken."

There is a HUGE difference between an American Staffordshire Terrier (so-called Pit Bull) and THIS dog, which was a Boxer/English Bulldog mix. Pit bulls have short, stubby legs and enormous heads and move stiffly. This dog had a normal-sized head, was more lanky, and moved gracefully.

The video showed the dog loping gently, not running in a threatening manner.

Michael

[SerpentDove]

I wonder how this cowardly bastard feels now. If he was scared of a dog, I hope he is absolutely terrified, night and day, now.

A family was terrorized wrongly. Now that incident is past, but this POS has to fear stepping outside indefinitely.

In a small way, justice is being served.

[BabsC]

I understand the dog was used to playing a game with a light and was going toward the light the cop was holding.
The whole situation could have been avoided if the cops were still trained to protect and serve instead of the "us" against "them" attitudes.

[Wright is right!]

EEEEEEK. It's NOT a pit bull. Doesn't look ANYTHING LIKE a pit bull. When will you pipple stop?!?!

Michael

[EBUCK]

Bulldog/Boxer mix example.

I agree that he panicked and reacted to his training.

EBUCK

[PatrioticAmerican]

" but this POS has to fear stepping outside indefinitely.
"

Not likely. He probalby knows that the system will not prosecute him, and the family is not going to harm him in any way.

[Vigilantcitizen]

"Usually it is a "justified shooting", just like this one."

Yeah,I mean surely that no more than 50 pound dog instilled "in fear for my life" in Officer Hall and the other 5 armed, fully grown men at that stop.

Surely if officer Hall hadn't removed that dogs head when he did, the dogs rapidly waggling tail would've rendered all 6 officers lifeless within seconds.

[weikel]

Bump I wish he could see the guys hanged.

[EBUCK]

That is a great point!!

Bun in their efforts to become more military like a lot of PD's have forgone courtesy in the name of effectiveness.

[SerpentDove]

>>Not likely. He probalby knows that the system will not prosecute him, and the family is not going to harm him in any way.<<

I doubt you are correct, but who knows? Given the intense outrage at what he has done, I would think he was a dimwitted fool if he didn't have a lot of fear right now.

But maybe that's exactly what he is.