Cops shoot dog, leave note

N&P: Discuss governments, nations, politics and recent related news here.

Moderators: Alyrium Denryle, Edi, K. A. Pital

Locked
User avatar
AMT
Jedi Knight
Posts: 865
Joined: 2008-11-21 12:26pm

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by AMT »

White Haven wrote:I love how 'The dog is running at me and barking' is apparently justification to open fire. News flash, if you walk into a back yard occupied by a dog, or walk near one, or drive past, or whatever, you're going to be barked at and the dog is going to run as close to you as the fence allows. It's more or less equivalent to saying 'The dog was conscious.'
Which means the police officer should just take the risk if it comes and attacks them?

It's a shame what happened and how it was handled, but I don't see the action itself being wrong in and of itself. Police Officers are trained to react to potential threats in a certain manner, not to sit there and consider options until its possibly too late.
User avatar
Kamakazie Sith
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 7555
Joined: 2002-07-03 05:00pm
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Kamakazie Sith »

fajner1 wrote:It's weird how cops have their own little version of diplomatic immunity. If a civilian shoots a dog, he's screwed. If a cop shoots a dog, he's following protocol. And it's also simple logic: If there was a robbery, any dog would be barking. The dog started barking at the cop, not at the fake burglars.

Also, would this count as damage to property or animal cruelty?
What I find more strange is that people define "threatening behavior" as barking and/or running. As I said before I'm not sure why this definition is created. To me threatening behavior is like AD third picture. Why would you assume that the officer defines threatening behavior as AD first pic? I want an answer.

Also, I don't know where you, Fajner1, received your education in criminal law, but if a civilian were to shoot a dog that was engaged in threatening behavior that civilian would not be screwed unless the applicable laws of the state or that persons particular circumstances prevented a civilian from possessing a firearm.
Milites Astrum Exterminans
User avatar
Kamakazie Sith
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 7555
Joined: 2002-07-03 05:00pm
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Kamakazie Sith »

White Haven wrote:I love how 'The dog is running at me and barking' is apparently justification to open fire. News flash, if you walk into a back yard occupied by a dog, or walk near one, or drive past, or whatever, you're going to be barked at and the dog is going to run as close to you as the fence allows. It's more or less equivalent to saying 'The dog was conscious.'
Can you point out in the article where the threatening behavior was described as "running at me and barking"? Again, I would like an answer.
Milites Astrum Exterminans
xt828
Padawan Learner
Posts: 261
Joined: 2010-03-23 03:40am

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by xt828 »

I understand that a couple of you are serving or past officers of the law, so I'll ask you this - have you come across burglars or other criminals taking their dogs to work, so to speak? I could understand the officer in question thinking this may be the case, though I agree with others that a nonlethal option for dealing with the situation would be preferable.
User avatar
Alyrium Denryle
Minister of Sin
Posts: 22224
Joined: 2002-07-11 08:34pm
Location: The Deep Desert
Contact:

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Alyrium Denryle »

Kamakazie Sith wrote:
White Haven wrote:I love how 'The dog is running at me and barking' is apparently justification to open fire. News flash, if you walk into a back yard occupied by a dog, or walk near one, or drive past, or whatever, you're going to be barked at and the dog is going to run as close to you as the fence allows. It's more or less equivalent to saying 'The dog was conscious.'
Can you point out in the article where the threatening behavior was described as "running at me and barking"? Again, I would like an answer.
How is it more believable that a dog regularly around preschoolers being preschoolers (jumping on the dog, tugging on the dogs ears etc) and surrounded by strange people would become aggressive when someone enters the yard, than a person (cop or not) doing something they do in order to avoid being punished on a regular basis--lie--or was also something that people are on a regular basis--negligent and stupid?

For me, this is a matter of simple probability.
Last edited by Alyrium Denryle on 2010-10-01 09:11pm, edited 1 time in total.
GALE Force Biological Agent/
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/
Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences


There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.

Factio republicanum delenda est
User avatar
Kamakazie Sith
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 7555
Joined: 2002-07-03 05:00pm
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Kamakazie Sith »

Alyrium Denryle wrote:
Yes they can, but the likelihood of it is low. Usually, an animal, any animal, will telegraph what it is going to do. You cant help freak things like that, but it is also no reason to shoot first and ask questions later. Do you shoot people because while they appear friendly and cooperative, they "might change their behavior instantly"? No. Even if you would not be thrown into your own little cell, it simply makes no sense to operate that way.
If a friendly and cooperative person became instantly aggressive and charged me with a knife in hand. Yeah, I'd shoot him. If it were a teethless dog, or perhaps a dog that qualifies as small then probably not. Just as I probably wouldn't shoot a child if they ran at me with a knife.

Anyway, this is another strawman. The officer didn't shoot the dog because it might change its behavior. It shot the dog because it was acting in a threatening manner. Also, as I've said before. You want to know what the threatening manner is. Read the police report. Do not rely on the news to give you the whole story. Everyone here at SDN should know that by now. It's ridiculous that when something happens that you don't agree with suddenly the news is pinpoint accurate.
As a result, I have a hard time, given the description of the dog's extracurricular activities, believing that it behaved aggressively in any way.
Yeah, and what do parents say about their children who just got down shooting up their school? "Timmy was such a nice boy. I can't believe he would do that" So, you'll excuse me if I'm not as moved by the words of the owner who loved the dog as you are.
Milites Astrum Exterminans
User avatar
Kamakazie Sith
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 7555
Joined: 2002-07-03 05:00pm
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Kamakazie Sith »

Alyrium Denryle wrote:
How is it more believable that a dog regularly around preschoolers being preschoolers (jumping on the dog, tugging on the dogs ears etc) and surrounded by strange people would become aggressive when someone enters the yard, than a person (cop or not) doing something they do in order to avoid being punished on a regular basis--lie--or was also something that people are on a regular basis--negligent and stupid?

For me, this is a matter of simple probability.
Ah so you're basically admitted that the officer would need to have been bitten in order to satisfy your burden of proof in this circumstance. Otherwise, I'm not entirely sure what else could be done in order to satisfy those who think the police are lying everytime an situation that invokes an emotional response arises.

(Besides adding uniform cameras, which I think needs to be done)
Milites Astrum Exterminans
User avatar
Kamakazie Sith
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 7555
Joined: 2002-07-03 05:00pm
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Kamakazie Sith »

xt828 wrote:I understand that a couple of you are serving or past officers of the law, so I'll ask you this - have you come across burglars or other criminals taking their dogs to work, so to speak? I could understand the officer in question thinking this may be the case, though I agree with others that a nonlethal option for dealing with the situation would be preferable.
The problem is a burglary in progress is considered a dangerous call among police because your chances of encountering a suspect are greater, so we usually go in with guns drawn because if you get into a gun fight you don't want to be shooting taser probes, or OC spray at a person shooting bullets at you. Thus, if you're charged by a dog while your gun is in your hand there probably isn't going to be enough time to switch to an alternative.
Milites Astrum Exterminans
User avatar
Alyrium Denryle
Minister of Sin
Posts: 22224
Joined: 2002-07-11 08:34pm
Location: The Deep Desert
Contact:

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Alyrium Denryle »

If a friendly and cooperative person became instantly aggressive and charged me with a knife in hand. Yeah, I'd shoot him. If it were a teethless dog, or perhaps a dog that qualifies as small then probably not. Just as I probably wouldn't shoot a child if they ran at me with a knife.
Except there is no evidence other than the cops word that this occurred, and the dogs owner would take said dog to work her... namely to a preschool. For a dog to be that good around shit loads of small children, said dog must be very very well socialized.

You are committing a strawman, you did not even reread the part of your post I was responding to. namely the bit about a friendly dog running at you, and shooting it because when it get up to you, it MAY change its mind about whether to lick your face or rip it off.

Anyway, this is another strawman. The officer didn't shoot the dog because it might change its behavior. It shot the dog because it was acting in a threatening manner
Based on what? The hand-written scrawl of a cop who had reason to lie, or could not read a dog's body language for shit?

Yeah, and what do parents say about their children who just got down shooting up their school? "Timmy was such a nice boy. I can't believe he would do that" So, you'll excuse me if I'm not as moved by the words of the owner who loved the dog as you are.
There is denial, then there is track record. Have you taken a lab around children lately? A dog taken regularly to a preschool is not a dangerous or aggressive dog by definition.

So, either that dog went insane, or the cop's note and subsequent police report are inaccurate. What do you honestly think is more likely?
Ah so you're basically admitted that the officer would need to have been bitten in order to satisfy your burden of proof in this circumstance. Otherwise, I'm not entirely sure what else could be done in order to satisfy those who think the police are lying everytime an situation that invokes an emotional response arises.
In this situation, without a witness or camera, yeah. It is more likely he went in with his gun drawn because it was a potential burglary, saw the dog running toward him to say hello, shot it out of reflex and then went "oh...Fuck. I am going to catch a ton of shit for this" and lied.

He does not have to be a horrible person for the first part. However I am sick and tired of reading reports of cops shooting dogs behind fences, or tied up, or dogs that outside of lightning-strike probability are being friendly and then using the Southpark Hunting Rule of saying "Oh shit, its coming right for us!"

They and their departments need to man up and take some god damn responsibility for that shit. A simple note and later, a personal apology saying "Sorry, I went in with my gun drawn because I thought your house might be being robbed, and I accidentally shot your dog" followed by a departmental reprimand would be sufficient for this case. Instead, he blames it on what is by all available evidence a dog that was more likely to pin him to the ground for doggy kisses.
GALE Force Biological Agent/
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/
Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences


There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.

Factio republicanum delenda est
User avatar
Kamakazie Sith
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 7555
Joined: 2002-07-03 05:00pm
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Kamakazie Sith »

Alyrium Denryle wrote: Except there is no evidence other than the cops word that this occurred, and the dogs owner would take said dog to work her... namely to a preschool. For a dog to be that good around shit loads of small children, said dog must be very very well socialized.
Great. Still doesn't mean that the officer was lying. You seem to take this as absolute proof...enough that you'd obviously recommend firing this officer. I'm not as easily convinced as the animals behavior in a specific situation does not mean it will behave the same in a completely different situation.
You are committing a strawman, you did not even reread the part of your post I was responding to. namely the bit about a friendly dog running at you, and shooting it because when it get up to you, it MAY change its mind about whether to lick your face or rip it off.
Ah. My mistake. Obviously, if a dog were running up to an officer in a non-threatening manner then shooting it would not be justified.
Based on what? The hand-written scrawl of a cop who had reason to lie, or could not read a dog's body language for shit?
Or the dog was actually behaving in a threatening manner. If you have some evidence that the dog did not behave in a threatening manner towards this officer besides probability (which is hilarious that you would fire someone over probability)
There is denial, then there is track record. Have you taken a lab around children lately? A dog taken regularly to a preschool is not a dangerous or aggressive dog by definition.

So, either that dog went insane, or the cop's note and subsequent police report are inaccurate. What do you honestly think is more likely?
Or the dog was scared and its fight or flight instinct kicked in and usually when an animal is trapped it will fight. See, there are all sorts of possibilities here.
In this situation, without a witness or camera, yeah. It is more likely he went in with his gun drawn because it was a potential burglary, saw the dog running toward him to say hello, shot it out of reflex and then went "oh...Fuck. I am going to catch a ton of shit for this" and lied.
Fuck you, AD. I'm not going to get bit so I can satisfy your ridiculous standards. Such a requirement is unprecedented in law for both police and civilians. Nothing in the US say you must first have your blood drawn before you can act. Retarded.
He does not have to be a horrible person for the first part. However I am sick and tired of reading reports of cops shooting dogs behind fences, or tied up, or dogs that outside of lightning-strike probability are being friendly and then using the Southpark Hunting Rule of saying "Oh shit, its coming right for us!"
I'm sick of reading those too and then reading other threads where the article is dismissed as bullshit because no evidence exists or people take a neutral ground because no evidence exist. Get what I'm saying? You pick and choose which articles to believe without question. For the record though...yeah, if a chained dog is shot or one behind the fence is shot then that officer has no business being a cop.
They and their departments need to man up and take some god damn responsibility for that shit. A simple note and later, a personal apology saying "Sorry, I went in with my gun drawn because I thought your house might be being robbed, and I accidentally shot your dog" followed by a departmental reprimand would be sufficient for this case. Instead, he blames it on what is by all available evidence a dog that was more likely to pin him to the ground for doggy kisses.
Your evidence is regarding the dogs behavior in a compeltely different situation. Again, what if the police officer scared the dog and it attacked to defend itself?
Milites Astrum Exterminans
User avatar
RogueIce
_______
Posts: 13387
Joined: 2003-01-05 01:36am
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida, USA
Contact:

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by RogueIce »

Alyrium Denryle wrote:Except there is no evidence other than the cops word that this occurred, and the dogs owner would take said dog to work her... namely to a preschool. For a dog to be that good around shit loads of small children, said dog must be very very well socialized.
You know, I'm pretty sure this is absolutely irrelevant as to whether the officer's actions were justified. The officer does not have police-issue all-knowing ESP. He has no way to know that the dog goes to a preschool and is good around kids with the owner. He can only act based upon whatever information he has at the time. Trying to damn his actions based on information there is absolutely no reasonable way for him to possibly know is asinine.
Image
"How can I wait unknowing?
This is the price of war,
We rise with noble intentions,
And we risk all that is pure..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, Forever (Rome: Total War)

"On and on, through the years,
The war continues on..." - Angela & Jeff van Dyck, We Are All One (Medieval 2: Total War)
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." - Ambrose Redmoon
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight
User avatar
Alyrium Denryle
Minister of Sin
Posts: 22224
Joined: 2002-07-11 08:34pm
Location: The Deep Desert
Contact:

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Alyrium Denryle »

Great. Still doesn't mean that the officer was lying. You seem to take this as absolute proof...enough that you'd obviously recommend firing this officer. I'm not as easily convinced as the animals behavior in a specific situation does not mean it will behave the same in a completely different situation.
No, but the correlation is very very god damn high. Considering that the dog was a family dog, it gets all kinds of potentially strange people coming in and out of the house for barbecues, maintenance on cable TV etc. It was 11 years old, lots of experience with strangers. No reason to suspect the dog of aggression. That is if we know absolutely nothing of the breed, which we do. Yellow labs, barring really really weird cases, generally do not charge people. This is breed that is so gentle it can and does pick up delicate objects like eggs and baby birds without injury. They tend not be overly afraid of loud noises either.
Or the dog was actually behaving in a threatening manner. If you have some evidence that the dog did not behave in a threatening manner towards this officer besides probability (which is hilarious that you would fire someone over probability)
The burden of proof is, thankfully, not on me. Tell me, when a police officer shoots someone, is it generally on the person shot or their proxies to prove that the shooting was not justified, or is it on the cop to show that it was?
Or the dog was scared and its fight or flight instinct kicked in and usually when an animal is trapped it will fight. See, there are all sorts of possibilities here.
What would the dog have to be scared of exactly? Labs tend to be very good with strange people. They are the single dog of choice for therapy and seeing eye work for a good reason. They have been bred to be able to handle gun shots without freaking out etc. A strange person would be Nothing to a well socialized lab. they can sometimes get "reserved" with strangers, which means they may not immediately run up and demand to be scratched behind the ears.

In order to corner this dog and piss it off, the cop would have to have done something kinda nasty.

If this was a GSD, yeah, i could believe that it was aggressive. Not a lab. Not without additional evidence.
Fuck you, AD. I'm not going to get bit so I can satisfy your ridiculous standards. Such a requirement is unprecedented in law for both police and civilians. Nothing in the US say you must first have your blood drawn before you can act. Retarded.
That is not what i said, retard.

i responded to this:
Ah so you're basically admitted that the officer would need to have been bitten in order to satisfy your burden of proof in this circumstance.
with this:
In this situation, without a witness or camera, yeah. It is more likely he went in with his gun drawn because it was a potential burglary, saw the dog running toward him to say hello, shot it out of reflex and then went "oh...Fuck. I am going to catch a ton of shit for this" and lied.
Where on earth have I said that this burden of proof is required in all cases? Only in this one, based on breed characteristics and what we know of the dog's behavior.

That is twice you have done this in as many posts. You had to pass a reading comprehension exam at some point, yes? Primary School perhaps?
I'm sick of reading those two and then reading other threads where the article is dismissed as bullshit because no evidence exists. Get what I'm saying? You pick and choose which articles to believe without question. For the record though...yeah, if a chained dog is shot or one behind the fence is shot then that officer has no business being a cop.
In this case however, the cops defense is affirmative, just like any self-defense case. It is on him to prove that his action was warranted, and his word is not enough for that unless you are talking about a dog known to be aggressive. Hell, at least a breed that might get territorial and aggressive. We have neither.

Your evidence is regarding the dogs behavior in a compeltely different situation. Again, what if the police officer scared the dog and it attacked to defend itself?
Which begs the question of how he scared it. Here is a hint: Labs are known to joyously greet burglars, they are good watch dogs, but if you want a dog that will ever hurt anything other than a tennis ball, you will have better luck with all but a dozen other breeds. They have been bred to be calm (ie. not easily frightened) friendly and gentle dogs. They are not high strung, and more likely to retreat when scared. You are relying on a lot of Highly Improbable "what ifs" to justify this defense and are grasping at straws in a way that is almost sad.

He has no way to know that the dog goes to a preschool and is good around kids with the owner.
That is not what I am saying. I am saying it is more likely that he is flat out lying about why he shot the dog, because the dog was not being aggressive. Or do you have the same reading comprehension problems that KS does?
GALE Force Biological Agent/
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/
Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences


There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.

Factio republicanum delenda est
User avatar
Vehrec
Jedi Council Member
Posts: 2204
Joined: 2006-04-22 12:29pm
Location: The Ohio State University
Contact:

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Vehrec »

I have to agree with AD-the cop killed the family dog, and left without having any common human decency or courtesy in the matter. This is suspicious behavior-if he were a dog, I would be looking for shit on the floor, because that dog has made a mess and doesn't want me to punish it. Even more suspicious, is the fact that this dog was so seemingly good natured-pattern recognition is important because you usually CAN tell which dog's going to jump out and bit you and who's just going "HEY YOU, OFF MAH LAWN" in dog-language

In short, cops are people I'm suspicious of in general because of how broken Law Enforcement in general is in this country, and I have no problem imagining AD's theory while Sith's is just ass-covering.
ImageCommander of the MFS Darwinian Selection Method (sexual)
User avatar
Enigma
is a laughing fool.
Posts: 7777
Joined: 2003-04-30 10:24pm
Location: c nnyhjdyt yr 45

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Enigma »

I wonder how aggressive can an eleven year old Yellow Lab be?

For the most part I side with the law enforcement agencies but in this case and in my opinion the cop fucked up and is covering his ass.

As for the officer not knowing that labs in general are non-violent and are very sociable strikes me as very odd. I am sure he has been to many houses due to some law enforcement issue like burglary, domestic violence and so forth and yet never encountered Labs?

This wouldn't be much of an issue if the dog was a pit bull, boxer, doberman, german shepherds, etc... that got shot but instead it was a old Lab. My guess is that he was trigger happy. He was startled by the dog and immediately shot it.
ASVS('97)/SDN('03)

"Whilst human alchemists refer to the combustion triangle, some of their orcish counterparts see it as more of a hexagon: heat, fuel, air, laughter, screaming, fun." Dawn of the Dragons

ASSCRAVATS!
User avatar
Kamakazie Sith
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 7555
Joined: 2002-07-03 05:00pm
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Kamakazie Sith »

Alyrium Denryle wrote: No, but the correlation is very very god damn high. Considering that the dog was a family dog, it gets all kinds of potentially strange people coming in and out of the house for barbecues, maintenance on cable TV etc. It was 11 years old, lots of experience with strangers. No reason to suspect the dog of aggression. That is if we know absolutely nothing of the breed, which we do. Yellow labs, barring really really weird cases, generally do not charge people. This is breed that is so gentle it can and does pick up delicate objects like eggs and baby birds without injury. They tend not be overly afraid of loud noises either.
And how do they respond to being scared? How do they respond in situations where they are trapped and their fight or flight instinct is engaged? Because all this bird egg stuff is sweet and is evidence of how gentle the dog can be, but it is not applicable to a situation that could be defined as scary to the dog.
The burden of proof is, thankfully, not on me. Tell me, when a police officer shoots someone, is it generally on the person shot or their proxies to prove that the shooting was not justified, or is it on the cop to show that it was?
Sure, allow me to offer an example. You have a dog with sharp teeth and the officers articulation of his/her observations. The best human equivalent I can come up with is a person with a knife. If a police officer shoots a person with a knife and the officers articulation can be summarized into "The person with a knife advanced on me in a threatening manner" and the ballistics confirm that the subject was shot facing the officer then that shooting with be ruled justified. It won't matter that the subject spends his free time reading to sick children, donates all his free money, and is described as the "nicest person you'd ever meet".
What would the dog have to be scared of exactly? Labs tend to be very good with strange people. They are the single dog of choice for therapy and seeing eye work for a good reason. They have been bred to be able to handle gun shots without freaking out etc. A strange person would be Nothing to a well socialized lab. they can sometimes get "reserved" with strangers, which means they may not immediately run up and demand to be scratched behind the ears.
That's just an example, AD. I'm saying that you're examples of its behavior in one situation does not mean that is how it will react in another completely different situation. You're jumping to conclusions to justify your position in this thread. Just take a neutral position. I'm not saying you have to say the officer was in the right, but when you say "The officer was wrong!" you're making a leap in logic and you've been trying to justify it with scenarios of this particular dogs behavior in completely different situations.
In order to corner this dog and piss it off, the cop would have to have done something kinda nasty.

If this was a GSD, yeah, i could believe that it was aggressive. Not a lab. Not without additional evidence.
Define this additional evidence using the same parameters.
Fuck you, AD. I'm not going to get bit so I can satisfy your ridiculous standards. Such a requirement is unprecedented in law for both police and civilians. Nothing in the US say you must first have your blood drawn before you can act. Retarded.
That is not what i said, retard.
[/quote]

Uh yeah it is.
Kamakazie Sith wrote: Ah so you're basically admitted that the officer would need to have been bitten in order to satisfy your burden of proof in this circumstance.
Alyrium Denryle wrote:In this situation, without a witness or camera, yeah. It is more likely he went in with his gun drawn because it was a potential burglary, saw the dog running toward him to say hello, shot it out of reflex and then went "oh...Fuck. I am going to catch a ton of shit for this" and lied.
You said "in this situation without a witness or camera, yeah." Then you offered your explanation of how it went down. So, yes. Again, such a requirement EVEN in this situation is unprecedented in US law. You do not have to wait for your own blood to be drawn before you act. So, don't tell me that isn't what you said because it is exactly what you said. Your explanation of how you think it went down is complete and utter speculation.
Where on earth have I said that this burden of proof is required in all cases? Only in this one, based on breed characteristics and what we know of the dog's behavior.
I never stated it was for all cases. I was specifically addressing this case in which you said "Yeah" to my question of "Ah so you're basically admitted that the officer would need to have been bitten in order to satisfy your burden of proof in this circumstance."
In this case however, the cops defense is affirmative, just like any self-defense case. It is on him to prove that his action was warranted, and his word is not enough for that unless you are talking about a dog known to be aggressive. Hell, at least a breed that might get territorial and aggressive. We have neither.
You're basically making it so the cop in this situation would be unable to prove that he is justified. Consider that the dog did become aggressive and did charge the officer with the intent of biting him. How beyond his own articulation is the street cop of the present suppose to satisfy you?

Which begs the question of how he scared it. Here is a hint: Labs are known to joyously greet burglars, they are good watch dogs, but if you want a dog that will ever hurt anything other than a tennis ball, you will have better luck with all but a dozen other breeds. They have been bred to be calm (ie. not easily frightened) friendly and gentle dogs. They are not high strung, and more likely to retreat when scared. You are relying on a lot of Highly Improbable "what ifs" to justify this defense and are grasping at straws in a way that is almost sad.
No, I'm relying on the officers observations. You're saying that the officer is lying because this dog is nice around children. Great, thankfully that isn't enough. If you have ZERO evidence how this particular dog would react in this situation in which the shooting occurred.
Milites Astrum Exterminans
Alphawolf55
Jedi Knight
Posts: 715
Joined: 2010-04-01 12:59am

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Alphawolf55 »

Kamikaze seriously what does it take for you to just admit that a cop fucked up and is covering his own ass, normally I attempt to at least somewhat respect your side because you claim that you would speak against a cop that expouses too much bullshit but it seems like in this case, you're just being straight up defensive because it was a cop. If a citizen did something near the same I doubt you'd take his word for it.

The fact is we have two different possible scenarios.

The dog was a friendly dog that went up to the officer, the officer was a bit jumpy,shot the dog when it didn't need to happen and to cover his fuck up basically exagerrates the risk for himself, and then because he felt uncomfortable dealing with the family he just left a note.

Or somehow this friendly dog that works with kids and has no record of violence after living for 11 years (which is like 60 in lab years) decided to go crazy one day and go against all behavior, and somehow the cop was unable to you know, leave the fucking area.

So either the cop is misleading people or the owner is. Why is it you automatically assume it's the owner.


Also stop acting like dogs somehow magically become violent whenever police officers are around. The fact is, dogs are pretty consistent in behavior. This was probably not the first time the dog saw a stranger, and yet it has no record of attacking them.It's ridiculous to believe the one time it magically gets violent it's when an officer is there (and conventienly no one else). Hell I'll even admit that there might be a point made when people say that a normally friendly dog will become violent in a swat raid because hey the officers to the dog would be attacking a member of the family but that doesn't work in this case. No one was being threatened in this case, the dog would have saw the cop as it would any other person, there's no reason to believe it'd act any different from normal in this case.

Also SVPD, fuck you for suggesting even 2 days of your life to learn something as simple as dog behavior is ridiculous.You're expected to be on the force for 20 years, work with dogs all the time, and you think officers can't take 2 fucking days to learn somethin?You know what, how about you learn it for fucking free on the weekend. Plently of other jobs require people to keep up on their skills and sometimes at their own expense. You don't want to learn how not to go overboard and shoot things, don't do the job.
Last edited by Alphawolf55 on 2010-10-02 12:44am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
noncredible
Padawan Learner
Posts: 219
Joined: 2010-02-20 12:03am
Location: Behind you.

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by noncredible »

Which means the police officer should just take the risk if it comes and attacks them?
Yes, he should. He's the trespasser. I mean, I suppose that there should have been a Beware of Dog sign on the gate, but still. Any dog would bark from the moment the cop opened the gate. Anyone with a sense of logic would know that if there was a dog, then it would be constantly barking if there were burglars. And the cop knew perfectly well they had a dog before he went there.
"Everything in this room is edible. Even I'm edible. But, that would be called cannibalism. It is looked down upon in most societies."
— Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

"And, if you should come upon this spot, please do not hurry on. Wait for a time, exactly under the star. Then, if a little man appears who laughs, who has golden hair and who refuses to answer questions, you will know who he is. If this should happen, please comfort me. Send me word that he has come back."
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
User avatar
Ritterin Sophia
Sith Acolyte
Posts: 5496
Joined: 2006-07-25 09:32am

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Ritterin Sophia »

SVPD wrote:Are you serious? 2 fucking days of additional training just on what different kinds of dogs are like? Do you know how much additional expense that would be across all the cops that get trained in the U.S. or even in Canada? No, the answer to your maybe is "no."
So wait, you're against familiarizing police officers with a ubiquitous feature of modern American society? Fuck off.
A Certain Clique, HAB, The Chroniclers
Sela
Padawan Learner
Posts: 249
Joined: 2009-01-04 10:01pm
Contact:

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Sela »

Is there a legal case here? The family clearly has damages + pain and suffering. The burden of proof is on the officer that the dog was violent/aggressive (which he cannot substantiate beyond his own word).

Further, the dog was (presumably) behind a fence on private property (so it's not a case of mishandling by owner). The officer was being negligent (failing to assess the presence of a dog before entering). The officer used lethal force where he might easily have used non-lethal force instead (had he not been negligent of the dog's presence). Finally, even if it was an 'accident', that still leaves the not so small issue of him having damaged their property.

Let's turn the situation around. Say a terrorist was on the run, and hid in my empty house. In order to get at him there was a running gun-fight and I come home to find one dead terrorist and a wall of my house looking like swiss-cheese. Surely I'm entitled to compensation?

Here we have a cop in pursuit of a burglar (or checking a burglar alarm) and a dog is killed. If the dog is property (and he is) then why isn't the family entitled to compensation?
There is no surer aphrodisiac to a man than a woman who is interested in him.
User avatar
loomer
Sith Marauder
Posts: 4260
Joined: 2005-11-20 07:57am

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by loomer »

How many dogs does this raise 2010's total to? Isn't it now something absolutely fucking crazy like 6 dogs owned by people who weren't actually breaking the law? To me, that's excessive on a level where training needs to be revised regardless of cost, especially if the officers are getting off scot free.

If I shoot a police dog snooping around my property, I'm up on murder charges. If I do it over in America, I'd be facing a felony in plenty of states, with a potential for twenty years in prison in some of them. To me, that is proof a dog is close, though not equivalent, to a person, not merely a 'family pet' as SVPD claims (incidentally, anyone who's had a long-term pet die knows that the grief can hit just as hard, or harder, than the death of a human family member. I cried more when my dog died last year than when my uncle did this year)
"Doctors keep their scalpels and other instruments handy, for emergencies. Keep your philosophy ready too—ready to understand heaven and earth. In everything you do, even the smallest thing, remember the chain that links them. Nothing earthly succeeds by ignoring heaven, nothing heavenly by ignoring the earth." M.A.A.A
Sela
Padawan Learner
Posts: 249
Joined: 2009-01-04 10:01pm
Contact:

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Sela »

To clarify something I feel like I didn't get right earlier:

My perception is that even if the dog WAS being aggressive - say it had been a ferocious pit-bull - and the officer had to kill it to save his own life, that STILL leaves him having to cover the damages. If he had willfully gone in and attacked and killed a non-aggressive dog . . .well that would be like smashing the windows of the house on his way out (albeit against a living being).

In either case it seems the family's entitled to reimbursement, no? Except in the second case there should be punitive action against the officer in addition to the reimbursement.
There is no surer aphrodisiac to a man than a woman who is interested in him.
User avatar
Alyrium Denryle
Minister of Sin
Posts: 22224
Joined: 2002-07-11 08:34pm
Location: The Deep Desert
Contact:

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Alyrium Denryle »

And how do they respond to being scared? How do they respond in situations where they are trapped and their fight or flight instinct is engaged? Because all this bird egg stuff is sweet and is evidence of how gentle the dog can be, but it is not applicable to a situation that could be defined as scary to the dog.
Generally? They hide under a table/bed/porch. They are the WORST guard dogs possible, perhaps with the exception of some of teacup breeds, save that it is temperament, and not size.

How exactly, again, did the cop scare the dog that much? Did he start taking pot shots at it? There is almost no animal in the world, let alone a dog, that when scared will turn and fight if it has another option. Even african predators will retreat, or hold their ground and display. Dogs are no different. If the cop cornered the dog, then he is at fault and should have backed the fuck off rather than shoot. Your argument is self-defeating.
Sure, allow me to offer an example. You have a dog with sharp teeth and the officers articulation of his/her observations. The best human equivalent I can come up with is a person with a knife. If a police officer shoots a person with a knife and the officers articulation can be summarized into "The person with a knife advanced on me in a threatening manner" and the ballistics confirm that the subject was shot facing the officer then that shooting with be ruled justified.
In this case, you can derive motive. The person with the knife has a reason to be advancing toward the cop in a threatening manner, they generally articulate their intention to injure the police officer, and the knife is generally in the person's hand or close by. There is evidence that backs up the officer's claim.

Now, take the opposite. A cop (not this one, but for the sake of argument) is a sadistic prick/has a really bad week and shoots a dog for no reason. You will defend that officer apparently against rather significant opposition based only on his word, a mountain full of unjustified assumptions that run counter to the known behavior of the dogs breed and the individual dog... and you will do so purely on the say so of that officer.
It won't matter that the subject spends his free time reading to sick children, donates all his free money, and is described as the "nicest person you'd ever meet".
No. It wont. And generally the cop would only be confronted with such an individual if said person was suspected of a crime/had gone dangerously insane/had already been dangerously insane.

The dog is not dangerously insane, the dog was not suspected of a crime giving the officer a reason to actually confront the dog, and the chances of the dog going insane are very very low.
That's just an example, AD. I'm saying that you're examples of its behavior in one situation does not mean that is how it will react in another completely different situation. You're jumping to conclusions to justify your position in this thread.
When the correlation between 1 set of behavior in one circumstance and its behavior in another is very very strong, we call that correlation a behavioral syndrome.

Why? Because the same physiological pathways that lead to a dog being just fine with kids, lead to them not being aggressive or defenses in other sets of conditions. Same cause, high correlation. So yes, the behavior in one set of conditions DOES mean that they will behave similarly in others.

Take a look at a lab. You notice those floppy ears, big eyes... puppy features? Same fucking cause.
but when you say "The officer was wrong!" you're making a leap in logic and you've been trying to justify it with scenarios of this particular dogs behavior in completely different situations.
When the two behaviors have the same physiological cause, it is not a leap. That said, I am not and have not said that the cop was certainly in the wrong. Only that the probability was amazingly small that he was not.

You on the other hand have relied on suppositions that are counter-indicated by all available evidence in your desperate attempt to defend another cop. Admirable, but in this case misguided.
Define this additional evidence using the same parameters.
Some kind of witness, the dog having a history of freak aggressive incidents. Anything that would give a rational person the reasonable expectation that perhaps the dog was aggressive. In this case, we have the say so of a cop that under a likely scenario has incentive to lie.
You said "in this situation without a witness or camera, yeah." Then you offered your explanation of how it went down. So, yes. Again, such a requirement EVEN in this situation is unprecedented in US law.
Do we typically allow people accused of murder to claim self defense with no additional evidence?
You do not have to wait for your own blood to be drawn before you act.
No, you dont. You do however have to have the reasonable expectation that you will be harmed, and affirmative defenses like that require evidence. In this case, the officer's word and the dog's past behavior are all we have. Expectation of harm=not reasonable. Were a witness to come forward that would change.

I never said blood drawn=ability to act either. I said it would, in the absence of a witness, satisfy the burden of proof on the officer. It is the only thing that really can. In any self defense case the defense must show that the killer had a reasonable expectation that they would be harmed. That is just not here.
You're basically making it so the cop in this situation would be unable to prove that he is justified.
No. I am not doing that. Logic and evidence do that for me. You are a cop. If you have a suspect who is suspected of a crime for a reasonable reason and when confronted with the evidence available has nothing to say but "Trust me, I am an X" would you simply take his word for it?
How beyond his own articulation is the street cop of the present suppose to satisfy you?
Freak incidents like that are unfortunate. I do believe it is why police have partners, cameras, etc.

Since when did the accused say so become evidence?
No, I'm relying on the officers observations.
Which could more easily given all the other evidence be a lie to cover up the shame of a tragic mistake.
If you have ZERO evidence how this particular dog would react in this situation in which the shooting occurred.
When the physiology by which aggressive behavior is controlled is the same, yes, I do, and it is.

I can for example predict with a high degree of accuracy how many animals will react in one situation given its behavior in other, often far more disparate situations provided the mechanisms are the same. You can do the same with people. A person who is aggressive or friendly in one stressful situation is highly likely to aggressive or friendly in another stressful situation. Frankly being poked, prodded and jumped on by three year olds is MORE stressful than a guy calmly entering your yard.
GALE Force Biological Agent/
BOTM/Great Dolphin Conspiracy/
Entomology and Evolutionary Biology Subdirector:SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences


There is Grandeur in the View of Life; it fills me with a Deep Wonder, and Intense Cynicism.

Factio republicanum delenda est
User avatar
Darth Fanboy
DUH! WINNING!
Posts: 11182
Joined: 2002-09-20 05:25am
Location: Mars, where I am a totally bitchin' rockstar.

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Darth Fanboy »

Enigma wrote:Bullshit on acting aggressively. This is just based on personal experience but I've encountered many Labs and in every case they never acted aggressively even though I was a stranger.
While I am completely horrified by the death of this animal I am forced to call you out on your personal observation. First of all, any dog without proper training regardless of breed can become a problem. Secondly, your personal experience doesn't change the fact that there are aggressive Labradors out there that have caused serious injury.

Again, while I don't condone the death of the dog at all, your dismissal based on your own personal experience doesn't hold up. Unfortunately, my fiancee's lab was put down due to aggression issues some years ago. Part of the problem was because he was protective to a fault, which could possibly be the case if officers were responding to a call and the Lab mistook them for intruders and tried to defend his home.
"If it's true that our species is alone in the universe, then I'd have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little."
-George Carlin (1937-2008)

"Have some of you Americans actually seen Football? Of course there are 0-0 draws but that doesn't make them any less exciting."
-Dr Roberts, with quite possibly the dumbest thing ever said in 10 years of SDNet.
xt828
Padawan Learner
Posts: 261
Joined: 2010-03-23 03:40am

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by xt828 »

Kamakazie Sith wrote:
xt828 wrote:I understand that a couple of you are serving or past officers of the law, so I'll ask you this - have you come across burglars or other criminals taking their dogs to work, so to speak? I could understand the officer in question thinking this may be the case, though I agree with others that a nonlethal option for dealing with the situation would be preferable.
The problem is a burglary in progress is considered a dangerous call among police because your chances of encountering a suspect are greater, so we usually go in with guns drawn because if you get into a gun fight you don't want to be shooting taser probes, or OC spray at a person shooting bullets at you. Thus, if you're charged by a dog while your gun is in your hand there probably isn't going to be enough time to switch to an alternative.
I realise I'm not quite fitting with the general tone of the thread, but that was a genuine request for information. I have heard that it's not uncommon in the US for criminals to have attack/guard dogs at their homes and the like, so I was wondering if some take dogs to work with them. I would think that an appropriately trained dog would be quite valuable to say a burglar.
User avatar
Rye
To Mega Therion
Posts: 12493
Joined: 2003-03-08 07:48am
Location: Uighur, please!

Re: Cops shoot dog, leave note

Post by Rye »

xt828 wrote:I realise I'm not quite fitting with the general tone of the thread, but that was a genuine request for information. I have heard that it's not uncommon in the US for criminals to have attack/guard dogs at their homes and the like, so I was wondering if some take dogs to work with them. I would think that an appropriately trained dog would be quite valuable to say a burglar.
Hahah. Never met a burglar before, have you? They're thick, lazy, opportunistic scum. They would not put that much effort into anything.
EBC|Fucking Metal|Artist|Androgynous Sexfiend|Gozer Kvltist|
Listen to my music! http://www.soundclick.com/nihilanth
"America is, now, the most powerful and economically prosperous nation in the country." - Master of Ossus
Locked