Meanwhile, family dogs are still getting shot

[Anti Federalist]

In other news:



Terre Haute police shoot, kill dog

Arthur Foulkes
The Tribune-Star The Tribune Star Sun May 01, 2011, 05:00 AM EDT

http://tribstar.com/news/x277105958/Terre-Haute-police-shoot-kill-dog

TERRE HAUTE — A north-side Terre Haute resident said he intends to file a complaint with city police after an officer shot and killed his dog Thursday evening.

Garri Knezevich said he was informed about 7 p.m. Thursday that police had shot and killed his 4-year-old dog outside of his home.

Terre Haute Police Chief John Plasse said the department received a complaint that a dog had gotten loose and was chasing people around 16th and Plum streets. A person at the scene reported the dog had attempted to bite him, Plasse said.

Police went to the home of the dog owner and, at that time, “the dog came at our officer in an aggressive manner and he felt threatened and shot the dog in order to protect himself,” Plasse said.

Terre Haute police are entitled to protect themselves or others if they believe a dog is going to injure someone, Plasse said.

(But let you try that, Mundane. See how fast you go to jail - AF)

[James Madison]

At least we got Bin Laden...

'Merica!

[Anti Federalist]

At least we got Bin Laden...

'Merica!

F yeah!!

[aGameOfThrones]

And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free...

[heavenlyboy34]

"The dog, which was a Labrador and Chow mix, was friendly and often played with children that came in the yard where it was sometimes chained up, Knezevich said, adding that the dog weighed about 35-to-40 pounds and broke his chain Thursday evening.

“She did break loose,” Knezevich said. “She broke her chain.”

Knezevich said he owns two other dogs and often chains them in his yard when the weather is nice. The incident Thursday evening took place while Knezevich said he was away from home. He was informed of what happened by the custodian of Deming Elementary School, which is near his home, he said.

Because a firearm was discharged during the incident, police will investigate to see whether or not it was justified, Plasse said. If Knezevich files a complaint, police will investigate his allegations as well, he said.

“It’s unfortunate that the dog was out and was shot,” Plasse said. “We don’t like that to happen, but we don’t want our officers or someone else getting bitten by a dog either.”"

So, the size of the dog was the cop's problem...but it was friendly enough to play with children! /facepalm at stupid cop :mad: How the hell do these cops function in the real world if they're this paranoid?

[mrsat_98]

And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free...

And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I can pay a fee .....

[payme_rick]

Therehas got to be something done about this, and I'm not just speaking for the sake of the dogs, BUT... there has to be some dog-lovers group PO'd about this that can go do protests at these plasces... Dress their dogs up in bullet-proof vests and hunter-orange... Hang signs saying "be a man, don't shoot my dog!"...

I dunno, it's sad...

[Krugerrand]

So, the size of the dog was the cop's problem...but it was friendly enough to play with children! /facepalm at stupid cop :mad: How the hell do these cops function in the real world if they're this paranoid?

I don't believe you're seeing paranoia. You're seeing somebody who likes the power that the badge gives him. He wants to show that he can kill as he pleases. And, he knows that there will never be any negative repercussions to his actions. This is ego - not paranoia.

What people should do is put up billboards with the cops face on one side and a picture of the dog being hugged by a small child on the other with a slogan: You are being "protected" by this "man" who was AFRAID of this dog.

These people should be at least publicly ridiculed as cowards.

[payme_rick]

I think for most LEOs it's not a "power trip" thing that leads to ends such as these as much as it is a situation they should not be involved in ("don't call the cops!" - AF) and a lack of training in determining the level of a threat and how to use the proper force in addressing that threat... I'm not excusing the officers at all, they should receive the proper punishment...

Funny story... Me and my buddy's were tossing some back one day and our deputy friend stopped by to visit on his way to work his night shift... We had some big blue crabs, pinchers still intact, sitting in a kiddy-pool because my bud's nephew wanted a few temporary pets... One of my friends pulled out the biggest one and started chasing our deputy friend with it... Our deputy friend was laughing of course, but has a fear of crabs... We'll never forget though, and we dog him to this day, that the whole time he was being chased, his hand was gripping his holstered 9mm...

There's just something about a gun that makes people want to use it when faced with any, and I mean ANY threat...

[Pericles]

There's just something about a gun that makes people want to use it when faced with any, and I mean ANY threat...

This is the key point, and the more capable and competent a person is with dealing with uncertainty, the less dependent that person will be on the firearm.

This is why Army occupations don't go well - when 80% of your problems can be solved with the use of automatic weapons, the easy solution when faced with an uncertain situation is to "spray and pray". It is the duty of the NCOs and officers to keep that tendency under control, as they are supposed to have the experience and maturity to control violence - reality being that the farther up the food chain you go, the tighter the restrictions on the use of force. Thus, you see the incidents you do in the sandbox, where there are 4 man patrols, led by somebody with usually less than 3 years military experience.

In theory, the Marines would be better at occupations than the Army, the idea being that the same skills for embassy guard personnel training could apply to the rest of the Corps. This ignores the reality that embassy guards are specially selected from the rest of the Corps, but you get the idea. The concept is understanding the idea of control with the use of minimal force, and how to appropriately escalate.

This brings us to the current state of police training in the US. Old school cops are almost extinct. They were carefully selected (as one expressed it to me - they made you afraid to apply to the police department because they were going to weed you out anyway) and carefully trained to do real police work of preventing crime by having the trust of the community. For various reasons, almost anyone can get a job as a cop, and the paramilitary mindset has taken over. Any large city police department now acts more on the model of an occupying power, rather than as a police force, and the individual cops act accordingly.