The Smoaks appear on CNN
Posted on 01/08/2003 11:35:54 PM PST by JohnHuang2
The Tennessee policeman who shot and killed a family's dog during a terrorizing traffic stop took just three seconds to slay the animal after it jumped out its owners' car, reports the Cookeville Herald-Citizen.
Law-enforcement authorities released a videotape of the incident yesterday, which shows the three-second time frame on the tape's counter.
The Cookeville police officer who shot the dog, Eric Hall, has since been reassigned to administrative duties while the incident is probed.
As WorldNetDaily reported, the Smoak family was returning to their home in North Carolina on New Year's Day when three police cars swarmed their vehicle on Interstate 40 in what appeared to be a traffic stop.
The Smoaks appear on CNN |
A Tennessee Highway Patrol officer broadcast orders over a bullhorn for driver James Smoak to toss the keys out of the car window, get out with his hands up and walk backwards to the rear of the car. Smoak obeyed and was subsequently ordered onto his knees and handcuffed at gunpoint. Officers similarly handcuffed his wife, Pamela, and their 17-year-old son with their guns drawn.
As the troopers were putting the family members inside the patrol car, one of the Smoak family dogs, a boxer-bulldog mix named Patton, came out of the car and headed toward one of the Cookeville officers who were assisting the THP troopers.
"That officer had a flashlight on his shotgun, and the dog was going toward that light, and the officer shot him, just blew his head off," Pamela Smoak told the Herald-Citizen. "We had begged them to shut the car doors so our dogs wouldn't get out, [but] they didn't do that."
The Smoaks had been pulled over by mistake after someone reported seeing the car getting on the highway with cash flying out from behind the vehicle. James Smoak, it turns out, had mistakenly left his wallet on the roof of the car when he stopped to get gas. Someone within the THP reportedly thought a robbery had occurred, though it turns out none had.
Hall claimed he was acting in self-defense.
"I yelled at the dog to get back, but it attempted to circle me to attack, so I felt that I had no option but to protect myself," the officer wrote in a police report.
Police Chief Bob Terry told the Herald-Citizen, "We are aware there is a lot of criticism out there over this incident, and we want to take [Hall] off the road and let him perform other duties while we get this all resolved." Terry stressed that Hall was not being punished for killing the dog.
The Herald-Citizen reports that "to an average viewer, the scene recorded on the video may not demonstrate the aggressiveness or the threat the officer said he experienced as the dog came toward him."
Terry said he will have two unrelated police agencies perform independent reviews of the incident.
"We once again extend our deepest concerns to the Smoak family for their loss," Terry said. "We know this was a terrible experience for them, and we truly wish that we could undo the events that occurred on the night of Jan. 1."
The Smoaks recently told their story on CNN's "Connie Chung Tonight."
Speaking of Patton, son Brandon Smoak told Chung, "He's the gentlest dog that I've ever been around. He's like Scooby Doo. He wasn't mean at all."
Do you really think cops have nothing to learn regarding the use of dangerous tactics and deadly force?
I think police should always be in the learning process and especially in how new technologies can be used to reduce the use of deadly force.
I think neighborhoods policing themselves and neighborhood policing would go a long way toward reducing law enforcement use of deadly force.
The article says it is Officers Hall's police report from 01/01/03. I boldened the portion that is relevant to my point.
Here is the quote from Hall regarding the dog shooting:
"Suddenly, a dog jumped from the suspects' vehicle, singled me out from the other officers, and charged toward me, growling in an aggressive manner. I yelled at the dog to get back but it attempted to circle me to attack, so I felt I had no other option but to protect myself.
Notice that Officer Hall did not claim that the dog actually attacked or lunged at him.
Neither did he claim that the dog actually circled him.
He only said that it "attempted to circle me to attack."
If Hall believed that the dog was lunging at him, he would have said so since that would be a major point in his defense.
I conclude that whatever it is the dog is doing on the video in the last moments, Officer Hall is saying he believed it was in preparation for an attack.
Any thoughts?
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/03/01/27645288.shtml
Speaking as a former worker for the City of Atlanta Police Helicopter Squad (the old version, before Maynard Jackson destroyed it), I don't think that would work. Even a big city can afford only a few copters, and given their range and turnaround time, they can't be ready to go at all times. They can only participate in a few chases -- when our guys got involved it was a big deal. Then you have the problems of weather . . . .
And of course, once you publicize the fact that your policy is not to pursue, EVERYBODY runs.
Here is how Hall described what happened next.
"As the dog came out, he came right at me. It was like a pitbull and it still came as I backed up. Then something happened after that."
Nothing else about the dog's actions is said by Hall in this article.
I guarantee you one thing, if I ever shot a dog who started to lunge at me, I would be making that point loud and clear every chance I got. I wouldn't say "something happened" or that the dog was attempting to move in such a way so that it could attack.
The claim that the video shows a dog either initiating an attack or commiting an attack is once again not backed up by Officer Hall's statements in this article.
http://216.247.183.73/news/0301/10/police_hall.htm
Supposed to be an American Bulldog - Boxer mix.
If the only factor was the specific threat posed by the dog I'd tend to agree. However, when providing backup, the imperative is to protect the other officers from any and all threats. It is obvious to me that the specific threat of the dog attacking Hall himself was just a piece of the overall threat which was the disruption of control at the scene.
One could imagine that if the felony stop was legitimate, bad guys could have used the opportunity provided by the disruption to overwhelm a police officer.
Hall's decision to shoot was correct within the context of a legitimate felony stop. How was he supposed to know that it was not legit? The THCP dispatcher had set him up believe that carjacking/robbery suspects were being restrained. The THP troopers were in charge at the scene. He was providing backup. A dog is running into the middle scene and maybe attacking. It looks like a pit bull. A split second to decide.
Why? The entire unedited video is about 4 minutes and includes the cars moving on the road, the pullover, the extraction of the suspects from the car, the cuffing, the dog leaving, the dog being shot and the aftermath.
My watch has no problem.
Hall's biggest problem, IMO, is the issue of public trust. Fairly or unfairly, he's the ogre at this point in the story. New facts may come out to change that, and the THP has yet to receive the same scrutiny.
Despite all that, I'm guessing his career in law enforcement is over. He shot an innocent family's pet dog and it's been seen on tape all over the US.
That is going to be very difficult to overcome.
It's a worldwide story. If anything, the international press is even more down on the shooting. The U.S. press feeds at the police PR trough too much.
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This thread is now 700 posts long!
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