Trooper Shoots Family Dog

[Shaky & Blue]

There's a story out of Tennessee where state police stopped a North Carolina family on the suspicion they had been involved in a robbery, then shot their dog:

http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/03/01/27473390.shtml

There's even video at that site of the entire incident from the trooper's dashcam.

Reaction to the story has not been favorable to the police. In fact, the troopers are getting raked over the coals on one of the media websites. "If you're going to be afraid of a dog that's wagging his tail like that, you don't need to be a police officer," one message quotes. (You don't have to be registered to participate in the conversation over there, so please feel free to join that discussion.)

I'm curious about how folks on this board react to this story. Was the shooting reasonable?

It turns out there actually was no robbery at all. The driver had left his wallet sitting on top of his car at their last fuel stop. When it fell off, cash flew out of it and spread across the road. An anonymous caller who saw it dialed police from a cellphone and reported a suspicious vehicle with money flying out of the windows.

Even though no robberies had been reported, the car was still stopped on a suspicion of being involved in a robbery. Is this normal procedure?

Opinions?

[Bill R]

There's a thread going in Ask a Cop.It's "would you do this?"

[ 01-09-2003, 02:00 PM: Message edited by: Bill R ]

[Shaky & Blue]

Sorry, I didn't see it, especially since the title didn't really indicate the topic. Still, we're just getting a hold of it on Medialine, so anybody from the thread here, feel free to come on over.

[jellybean40]

quote:

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Originally posted by Shaky & Blue:
Sorry, I didn't see it, especially since the title didn't really indicate the topic.

---

Yeah, and that would be a good suggestion... i recently joined a Forum where one of the requirements is, that when you post a topic, the title reflects what the topic is about. kind of saves the busy people from clicking onto every thread to find out what its about.

[spaz]

http://www.local6.com/orlpn/news/stories/news-187947320030109-110148.html

video of the shooting

ummmmmm, i am not a cop but i think the cop here was wrong. sorry guys.

[Oink]

Hmmm, Nice video. Clears a few things up.

"Telling police the dog was not a danger"
How reassuring.

The other version I saw without the reporter you can hear more. Felony Stop

That dog was charging very fast, It sounded like it was growling but it's hard to tell with the quality. Had I been there I would have done the same thing. It's bad enough to risk your own life to be macho but another to risk someone elses. And I don't think I would have been able to tell what that dogs intensions were, He had maybe 0.5 sec of the dog in close range. Not much time to decide, If that dog were charging and snarling at me I would have shot it too. I somehow doubt the dog came out to play.

[ASOinFL]

That was worthless.....a crappy video with equal clarity. Whether you think they made a mistake or not doesn't mean squat..........you weren't THERE. You can second guess and arm-chair judge all you want.......but until your at that particular call and that moment as an active participant, you don't KNOW what they were thinking or going through.

On the bright side.........this is a whole new thread on which we can beat the same dead old horse.

[Oink]

That media bb is interesting. no shortage of uneducated opinions there, I doubt any of those ppl are the slightest bit interested in hearing the other side of the story.
I saw the video, the cop was under attack, he fired, The dog was only protecting them but that doesn't change the threat.
I wonder how many of those morons would NOT shoot a dog thats attacking them.
Those officers WILL be cleared and the uneducated sheeple will continue to cry 'police brutality' because they don't know any better. How come noone ever cries about 'criminal brutality'

[JKT]

Here's a link to the other thread.

[PeacefulDragon]

quote:

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Originally posted by ASOinFL:
On the bright side.........this is a whole new thread on which we can beat the same dead old horse.

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Er, don't you mean "dog"?

[spaz]

ASOinFL, i understand....i wasn't there.

from the video alone, the dog's tail was wagging...

not to beat horses or shoot dogs but the dog didn't make a direct path to the dog but then again.

oh well, better a dead dog then a out of commision cop.

[Traffic_Goddess]

Good, because here's my two cents!
I was struck by the way they made a big deal over the officer smiling after the incident. I have seen plenty of "smiling" responses to something serious that has happened. Many times, the officer isn't even aware that they are doing it, other times it is a smile of "Thank God, I'm still alive", or complete nervousness.
I don't think they can base anything on that smile.

[retired]

oink,

quote:

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Originally posted by Oink:
That media bb is interesting. no shortage of uneducated opinions there, I doubt any of those ppl are the slightest bit interested in hearing the other side of the story.
I saw the video, the cop was under attack, he fired, The dog was only protecting them but that doesn't change the threat.
I wonder how many of those morons would NOT shoot a dog thats attacking them.
Those officers WILL be cleared and the uneducated sheeple will continue to cry 'police brutality' because they don't know any better. How come noone ever cries about 'criminal brutality'

---

Why is it someone is a moron if they don't do it your way? I haven't seen the video so I am unable to comment on the officers actions. The officer may have been right, and he may have over-reacted, who knows until there is more information?

retired

[Oink]

"Why is it someone is a moron if they don't do it your way?"
-----
Here's some quotes from the media bb:

"and teh cops need to lose their jobs. From what I read, there is absolutely no excuse for that"

"I'm no cop, but from the video, the dog looks pretty damn friendly, and not large enough to be much of a threat"

"It was a lab. What's it going to do, lick your hand?"

"they should have shut the car door when they were asked. None of this would have happened then. It's the cops own damn fault"

"(1) Cop who shot the dog should be fired. Law enforcement agencies around the state should know about this guy and, if possible, be prevented from hiring him in a job like that again.
(2) At the very least, highway patrol officers who were there should be suspended a minimum of 30 days without pay.
(3) Family should sue cop and city for as much as they can get.
(4) If the police chief continues to defend this bad cop, he oughta be fired, too."

"And you wonder why people hate cops. What a bunch of *********s."
-----
Does this answer you? They are morons because they are running down the cops without taking into account that:
1) (Based on what every officer on this BB has said) - The stop was by the book.
2) Dogs do not always respond to OC, particularily when they are determined.
3) On the video, The dog is attacking, I watched the video over and over...It is snarling and attacking and the officer has only a fraction of a second to decide what to do. He did NOT have time to OC the dog. And if that didn't work he would have even less time to shoot.

I'm was saying that those ppl are running down the officer for shooting the dog, It's very easy to say "he should of done this or that or OCd the dog or wrestled the dog or get mauled", It's not as easy when it's your ***** on the line. I just can't imagine if these ppl were armed and a snarling dog charged them that they would play with it. According to them that cop should get fired for defending himself.

[ 01-09-2003, 05:18 PM: Message edited by: Oink ]

[spaz]

oink, what wrong w/ morons? they keep you employed

btw, watching the video again...the dog chased the officer.

as for "smiling" after an event, any adrenaline junky knows that doesn't mean squat.
i have been in car accidents and almost-car accidents, often i joked about it (which the paramedics thought i hit my head and wasn't totally aware....try explaining that one)