Officer(s?) who shot dog...

[MaryAnnDVC]

will be on the Today show today. It should be interesting to see what he (they) has to say.

 

[Mermaid02]

Thanks for the tip... doubt I'll watch though, they'll just make me mad.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Thank You! I will watch...

 

[we3luvdisney]

I saw the video clip, not where he shot the dog, but everything prior to that. There is NO WAY that dog was a threat. I hope he loses his job and the family takes the police department/town to the cleaners!

 

[WillyJ]

I just woke up and missed it. . . is he still sticking to that "the dog charged me in an agressive manner" lie???

 

[Disney Doll]

Boy, I wouldn't want to be a police officer in this world today. They are one of the few groups left who are guilty until proven innocent.

Who DO all you people call when something happens in your town? Obviously not the police, since you apparently think they are a bunch of sadistic, no good, lying SOBs.

 

[WillyJ]

I think that's an unfair thing to say Disney Doll. . .


I am speaking of this one incident; if you've seen the video and can say you agree with the officer's story that the dog charged him in an agressive manner and he blew it's head off in front of the family because he had no choice, then feel free to make your case. . .

The video I saw showed the family respectfully asking the officers to please close the door so the dog wouldn't get out, and being ignored. . then the dog gets out, sniffs around a little, trots towards the direction of the family, then the officer, and was wagging it's tail.. and the officer just stepped around it and shot it. .

He also claimed he thought it was a "pitbull" when the dog was so obviously some type of lab/setter and looked no more like a pitbull then it did a poodle. .


Police have a very difficult, underpaid job and do deserve the benefit of the doubt. . but they are not above criticism, and in this case the video clearly shows not only did the officer act improperly by killing the dog, but he also laughed about it in front of the family, and then told a lame and bald-faced lie about why he did it. .

Cops like that give the majority of decent, honest cops a bad name. .

 

[sha_lyn]

Originally posted by Disney Doll
Boy, I wouldn't want to be a police officer in this world today. They are one of the few groups left who are guilty until proven innocent.

Who DO all you people call when something happens in your town? Obviously not the police, since you apparently think they are a bunch of sadistic, no good, lying SOBs.

Did you even bother to read the thread before you posted?

 

[luvindisneyworld]

willy, i totally agree with what you said.
disney doll, i think that was a bad thing to say, i bet you would think diffrent if it was your dog that they shot.
if it were me i would not let this rest until they admitted what they done was wrong.
disney doll, i guess you did not see thta one of the police officers daughters wrote to the family and totally agreed that the officers were in the wrong.
misty

 

[JAP]

Very well said Willy.

 

[Doctor P]

Well put, Willy!

 

[Towncrier]

I saw the interview this morning. The officer and his family have received death threats. People come up to his house and bang on his windows to scare his children. He is truly sorry about what happened.

During the interview, they went over the timeline of what happened. Apparently this officer was the 3rd one on the scene. He was not present for the initial stop. He was called as backup for a felony stop. He was not given any information other than that. He had to assume the worst. When the dog approached him, he backed away, trying to distance himself. When the dog continued towards him, he felt that his only option was to shoot.

I have not seen the entire video of the stop. What I have seen is the hacked up version that has been presented by the media. It is hard to draw an unemotional conclusion from what they have shown.

In hindsight, it is apparent that the officer did not have to kill the family's dog. But at that moment in time, it must have seemed to be his only course of action.

It is now up to the judicial system to decide the fate of this officer. I am more angered by the idiots who are harrassing this man's family and by the press that keeps fanning the flames of hatred.

 

[Tiggerkeeper]

Towncrier's last paragraph is exactly what I was thinking. Who are these people that are harassing this officer's family? What are they thinking? And as for the press...I would expect no less from them!!

TK

 

[nativetxn]

This was just such an unfortunate incident I think it is wrong and reprehensible of people in his town to harrass his family and try to frighten his children.

They don't want a dog wrongfully killed but they want to frighten innocent children? What kind of reasoning is that?

 

[Curly Q]

Very well put Willy. This whole thing makes me sick. That video is horrible. I don't think the officer is sorry at ALL about killing the dog, just sorry that no one sees it his way. Very sad that people brought this to his children.

 

[WillyJ]

It is criminal, indefensible and wrong in any way for anyone to threaten or terrorize the officer or his family for what he did. . and I hope anyone who had done that is arrested and prosicuted to the full extent of the law. . .

The fact he's being harrased does not change my feelings about his original actions. . . I didn't see today's interview, but if Hall (the officer who killed the dog) expressed regret about his actions, then it was the first time. . . and if he's sticking to his story that what happened was unavoidable and justified, then what exactly is he sorry for?

According the Knoxville times: "The preliminary investigation conducted by the state, the THP and the Cookeville Police Department found the officers involved acted reasonably and followed proper procedures. An apology was issued, and it contained this sentence: "We cannot change what happened, but we can work to make sure something like this never happens again."

So the officers did everything right, acted reasonably, but they want to do what ever it takes to make sure it never happens again????

As far as the media goes; the video was the property of the police- if they released it to the press they can hardly cry foul now just because it was aired and showed their version of what happened to be a fabrication. And I doubt Katie Couric kidnapped the officer and forced him to be on the "Today" show; I hadn't heard anything about it since the "official statement" was realeased 2 days after the incident. And also the family claims they got no type of apology from the authorities until the incident was publicized.

Just because someone passes a civil service test and gets a gun and badge doesn't mean they are God Almighty and above reproach or criticism. . . This family was coming back from a trip to Opryland, and the only "crime" they committed was the father left his wallet on top of the car and drove off from a gas staion. And in my opinion what happened to them was wrong, un-American, and an affront to human decency, and the CYA that occured afterwards was shameful and added insult to injury. . .

 

[sha_lyn]

Has anyone heards the 911 tape from the lady who saw the wallet flying off the top of the car? I'd really like to know just where the point of miscomunication took place. I've heard that she called it is as someone throwing it out the window while swerving down the road, and I've heard that she said it flew off the car but the story changed when one police agency called the other.

 

[WillyJ]

"The Abrahms Report" on MSNBC is getting ready to show a story on the interview and the family's reaction right now. . .

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

If I remember correctly, the officer is a domestic abuse detective who was covering for injured police officers. I think he also said that there were 3 or 4 police cars at the scene when he arrived. This was also the 3rd dog that this particular officer has shot and killed.

I just did a search...was hoping to find a transcript for the Today Show appearance, but I couldn't; I did find the following article:

http://www.msnbc.com/local/knews/kns_1681963.asp

The DISPATCHER was disciplined...no one else. Not the laughing officer either, who claims he "did laugh, but in response to unrelated comments by a dispatcher and not over the shooting of Patton."