Police kill owner's dog in front of him and other onlookers

[amazingfantasy15]

The cop should be immediately fired and charged with at the very least animal cruelty. The dog was not posing a threat, he didn't charge or attack the cop. There was no reason for a shot to be fired, really for a gun to be drawn at all. If this were two people that cop would be charged with first degree murder and should righly be convicted. The cop fired 4 shots, making sure the dog died! Truthfully I'd probably be dead if I was the dog's owner because I'd do everything in my power to get out of the restraints and attack the cop, which would result in me getting shot as well. The cop would probably empty his clip into me.

 

[Pink Ranger]

The issue I have with police forces in general is this:

Only a minority of police officers callously abuse their power or participate in acts of corruption.

BUT

A majority of police officers protect the minority of police officers who callously abuse their power or participate in acts of corruption.

 

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

The issue with the corrupt cops versus the good cops is the same as any situation.

One plane crashes, and people freak out about flying. Even though it was one flight out of hundreds that fly every day, and thousands that fly every year. It's the ONE time that the plane crashes that gets huge media attention, and people become nervous.

Well, it's the same thing here.

The ONE display of corruption gets media attention, while the thousands of police / civilian interactions daily that go routine or by the book are not. I can honestly say that I have had a few experiences with police in my life, and while I have personally dealt with ******* cops, I have never personally witnessed or experienced a police abuse of power.

And even for those of you that have, that doesn't mean that the corrupt cops outnumber or even equal the amount of good cops.

I am far from a "cops are corrupt", "**** the police" type of person, and while I do believe this isolated incident is a disgusting misuse of power, and a tragic display of incompetence, I'm not going to go anywhere near calling all or most police officers corrupt.

 

[Teelie]

I like to think most are honest and decent but then you find out just how often they cover for their less-than-upstanding fellow officers even when they clearly broke the law themselves or abused their power and you have to question the existing set up for law enforcement being capable of enforcing it on themselves.

 

[Warhammer]

I just watched the real video of it going down. That cop's insolence will be his downfall. With the media attention this video is getting, there is no way it will look good for him. All it takes in one time to f*** up on camera for your reputation to be smeared forever.

 

[warhorse78]

Oh dear, I know all too well how these things are handled. Just look up Bobo the Tiger in Loxahatchee, Florida.

 

[JaD]

Those cops had so much time to pull out some pepper spray. Just so stupid and sad. Him continuing to point the gun a the dog like it was a suspect with a gun was even dumber.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Seriously? Doctors get a lot of flack to get their license, people desperately need highly good qualifications to be doctors, they should probably do the very same with cops, and be even more strict about it. How many bad cops stories will be released before that happens?

 

[Lencho01]

Have any of you seen The Hunted and the Hated: An Inside Look at the NYPD's Stop-and-Frisk Policy on YouTube?

It's pretty interesting.

 

[Ant-manic]

Seriously? Doctors get a lot of flack to get their license, people desperately need highly good qualifications to be doctors, they should probably do the very same with cops, and be even more strict about it. How many bad cops stories will be released before that happens?

you'd have to pay them a lot more if that were a reality.

 

[The Question]

you'd have to pay them a lot more if that were a reality.

That should happen too. Low police wages lead to officers taking ridiculous overtime just to pay the bills, resulting in over stressed and under slept men and women with firearms being entrusted with our safety. Plus, a lot of police departments are set up with low wages with successful fulfilling of their duties being cash incentivised, meaning that they get bigger bonuses at the end of the month based on how many speeding tickets they hand out and how many arrests get made. Problem is, that doesn't encourage law enforcement to actually bring down the crime rate, it just encourages officers to arrest more people, so you get more instances of people being arrested on bogus charges partly because officers are desperate and need more money.

In addition to needing a better method regulating and holding it's members accountable for their actions and needing better hiring standards, our police departments absolutely need more money and fairer payment systems.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Police officer has traditionally not been a very... prestigious position. In fact, it used to be one of the few half-decent jobs people in the underclass could get.

Hence why there is the stereotype of the Irish cop in America. It was one of the few decent-paying jobs Irish immigrants could get.

Most of it used to revolve around serving corrupt authorities, and keeping the citizenry properly terrorized. The idea of police existing to serve the public is a relatively new concept, kind of like a government of the people.

 

[Hotwire]

As I'm watching the video, I can't really hear what the dog's owner is saying but, it seems the people who shot the video could. From what they're saying, it seems that the dog owner was doing what he could to antagonize the cops. They came over, in my opinion, to restrain him while they could finish what they were doing. Obviously, the guy was at least smart enough to put the dog in the car but, once the dog gets out, the cops are in a bit of a no win situation. At about 3:10, the dog comes over barking at the officers and one of them drops something. At 3:20 the officer reaches for the dropped item and the dog jumps at him. Now, sure, you can say that the dog wasn't a threat but, the officer can't afford to make that assumption. Reason being, if he's wrong, he or the other officers are getting hurt. Once the dog mad that lunge, the cop made a split second decision. I don't like that the dog got shot but, I can't completely throw the cop under the bus for it. If anything, the dog's owner should have simply left the cops alone and let them do their job instead of antagonizing them.

That's my opinion.

 

[Majik1387]

The dog never lunged. Nothing was dropped. Pepper spray is what you use as a first reaction to dogs, not a gun. And the guy never antagonized the cops, he was saying nothing to them.

 

[Hotwire]

The dog never lunged. Nothing was dropped. Pepper spray is what you use as a first reaction to dogs, not a gun. And the guy never antagonized the cops, he was saying nothing to them.

Watch the video again and check the times I mentioned. Go to YouTube and search "cop shoots dog". The first video on the list is the one that lines up with the times.

 

[Warhammer]

That should happen too. Low police wages lead to officers taking ridiculous overtime just to pay the bills, resulting in over stressed and under slept men and women with firearms being entrusted with our safety. Plus, a lot of police departments are set up with low wages with successful fulfilling of their duties being cash incentivised, meaning that they get bigger bonuses at the end of the month based on how many speeding tickets they hand out and how many arrests get made. Problem is, that doesn't encourage law enforcement to actually bring down the crime rate, it just encourages officers to arrest more people, so you get more instances of people being arrested on bogus charges partly because officers are desperate and need more money.

In addition to needing a better method regulating and holding it's members accountable for their actions and needing better hiring standards, our police departments absolutely need more money and fairer payment systems.

I was just talking about this today. It's such bulls*** that law enforcement and teachers don't get paid well in this country. My mother was telling me how in South Korea, the police and teachers get paid well as they should. With a rise in pay comes a rise in proficiency. Quite frankly, the good teachers and law enforcement in this country deserve so much more.

 

[Spider-Aziz]

you'd have to pay them a lot more if that were a reality.

As The Question and Warhammer said: "They deserve better salaries"
Incentive for competence and a safer society beats having more of these incidents with rotten or angry cops

 

[Dispatch Ninja]

The dog never lunged. Nothing was dropped. Pepper spray is what you use as a first reaction to dogs, not a gun. And the guy never antagonized the cops, he was saying nothing to them.

the dog clearly lunges at the officer right before he shoots it. Did you even watch the video? It's sad that the dog had to die, and I personally don't think I would have pulled a gun on it (although I can't say for sure without being there in the heat of the moment, it looks like there was some kind of swat call out they were dealing with), but you're lying by saying the dog never lunged, it was clearly being aggressive towards the officers. If it had bitten the officer the dog would have been euthanized as well.

 

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

As I'm watching the video, I can't really hear what the dog's owner is saying but, it seems the people who shot the video could. From what they're saying, it seems that the dog owner was doing what he could to antagonize the cops. They came over, in my opinion, to restrain him while they could finish what they were doing. Obviously, the guy was at least smart enough to put the dog in the car but, once the dog gets out, the cops are in a bit of a no win situation. At about 3:10, the dog comes over barking at the officers and one of them drops something. At 3:20 the officer reaches for the dropped item and the dog jumps at him. Now, sure, you can say that the dog wasn't a threat but, the officer can't afford to make that assumption. Reason being, if he's wrong, he or the other officers are getting hurt. Once the dog mad that lunge, the cop made a split second decision. I don't like that the dog got shot but, I can't completely throw the cop under the bus for it. If anything, the dog's owner should have simply left the cops alone and let them do their job instead of antagonizing them.

That's my opinion.

A dog bite is not an injury that warrants deadly force. Sorry.

 

[Dispatch Ninja]

A dog bite is not an injury that warrants deadly force. Sorry.

I read this post on an officer forum (post #30)...

http://forums.officer.com/t187944-2/#

Apparently, multiple dogs are killed on a daily basis by the lapd.

 

[Tanin]

A dog bite is not an injury that warrants deadly force. Sorry.

Dog bites can be deadly so... yes it does.

 

[Hotwire]

A dog bite is not an injury that warrants deadly force. Sorry.

A rottweiler has a strong enough bite to do serious damage. Especially if it bites into your wrist. Not only that but, you can't say with any certainty that it stops with one bite. I'm sorry but, a rott is a dog that, if it wants to, it can tear the s*** out of you. I know it sucks and I wish the dog didn't get killed but, I can't really put all of the blame on the cop. There were too many ways for the dog's owner to have prevented the whole thing. He is also to blame.

 

[The Question]

The responsibility is on the police to not let situations escalate like that. It has to be. We have to hold law enforcement to those standards. Otherwise all we get is victim blaming and police officers getting away with horrible things.

 

[Golgo-13]

The dog never lunged. Nothing was dropped. Pepper spray is what you use as a first reaction to dogs, not a gun. And the guy never antagonized the cops, he was saying nothing to them.

Pepper spray doesn't work against dogs...unless it's for dogs specifically.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

As The Question and Warhammer said: "They deserve better salaries"
Incentive for competence and a safer society beats having more of these incidents with rotten or angry cops

So who is going to pay them?

A dog bite is not an injury that warrants deadly force. Sorry.

You are going to have to explain all those disfiguring of people then. Or those killed by dog attacks.

Pepper spray doesn't work against dogs...unless it's for dogs specifically.

If this is true, there goes that argument.