Mr. famous detective, please read this thread - what is your call on this? What did you experience with dogs, if you did? What was the rule about dogs or was there one?
I have been retired for 10 years and I have not looked back, so I am not very famous... LOL
-What is your call on this?
I don’t like making a call on any of these types of cases without ALL of the facts and we never get them on the media and the internet. For example, exactly what information did dispatch give to the officer....? Why did he feel it necessary to jump out of the car with his gun drawn? Did he see the dog running at the car before or after he exited the car? Some would argue with me, but not all emergencies are emergencies.... I used to call it the “911 mentality”.
However, if the officer is found to be within the law and in compliance with dept. policy, the most that will happen to him will be a letter placed in his personnel file. The department may very well be found liable for the dogs death and damages in a civil court. If it were me, I’d sue.
-What did you experience with dogs, if you did?
I dealt with hundreds of dogs over the years. Some were good, some not so friendly. I carried dog treats, just like the UPS guys do and I also carried pepper spray. Unlike most cops, I also carried a dog sleeve in my trunk, although I never found it necessary to use it. The closest I have ever been bitten... was from my own dog. LOL
I have fed a few dogs, tossed them treats, but I never found it necessary to pepper spray a dog. I NEVER found it necessary to shoot a dog. I ran a drug task force for 6 years, executing search warrants and high risk entries was very much part of the job.
-What was the rule about dogs or was there one?
Our department policy was very much like the one in the article. I worked for a Sheriff’s Department and not once in my entire 30 years did ANY Deputy shoot a dog.
*****
What I have seen over the past few years in the ever growing frequency of LEO involved dog shootings is simply ridiculous. Some may very well be justified and I am sure some are, but the numbers speak for themselves.
It actually takes far more than a degree, ability to pass a written test and a gun to be a good cop, it actually takes guts, integrity and commonsense. I didn’t like John Wayne cops and I didn’t like cowards or crooks and those kinds of cops were scared to death to work for me because they knew they were doomed. Every one of them knew that working for me was a career move, up, down or out.
Unfortunately, we are forced to select cops from the human race. Life is like a box of chocolates...some pieces might actually have worms. LOL
NOTE: Any cop hater thinking of arguing with me on any of this is wasting their time... I already know that I am right and you are wrong. LOL