PDA

View Full Version : TX-Family calls cops for burglary call. Cops show up three hours late, shoot family dog.




Anti Federalist
08-17-2012, 11:39 PM
This is an update to a story I posted last night.

As usual, the initial reports from the cops are 180 degrees out of sync from what the Mundane's are saying.

And, once again, Do Not Call Cops.



Owner of pit bull shot by Austin police officer says dog was chained .

by TYLER SIESWERDA / KVUE News and photojournalist DEREK RASOR

Posted on August 16, 2012 at 9:43 PM

Updated today at 10:22 AM

http://www.kvue.com/news/Owner-of-pit-bull-shot-by-Austin-Police-officer-says-dog-was-chained-166496556.html

AUSTIN -- A blood stain in the grass is a sad reminder for the Miller family.

"And we hear 'pow, pow, pow,' and there's our dog shot and APD is standing right there," said Brittany Miller.

Miller said an Austin police officer pulled the trigger killing her pit bull. As she spoke, Miller showed a video clip from last week of Papa, the pit bull, playing with her two-year-old daughter.

"They never once announced that they were coming. They never once announced that they were here. They never once said, 'Get your dog.' They just shot the dog," Miller said. "I was mad. I was crying. That was my dog. We've had that dog for 10 years. "

Miller said she called the police earlier in the day about a break-in, but officers did not show up until about three hours later.

Police said officers were there to write the burglary report and were checking the outside of the house when the dog attacked.

Neighbor Larri Dundee didn't see what happened but was familiar with Papa.

"It all depends on if the dog was really attacking him because the dog's on a chain. I've never seen him be aggressive, so I don't know for sure. I've walked by before, and the dog always barks at me, but they always tell him to stop, and he stops," said Dundee.

Miller now has to tell her daughter what happened to Papa, a conversation she never wanted to have.

The Austin Police Department had no further comment Thursday night.

A couple of months ago, the department changed its policy on using deadly force against animals after another officer killed a dog. Officers must now decide if there was imminent danger of bodily harm.

kathy88
08-18-2012, 05:01 AM
Of corse there was imminent danger. That chained dog was a menace to society. The mundanes should be thanking them.

Anti Federalist
08-18-2012, 11:35 AM
As is usually the case, "policy was followed".



Dog shooting was within policy, police officials say

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/dog-shooting-was-within-policy-police-officials-say-2437652.html

A day after another dog was fatally shot in East Austin by a police officer, department officials said the shooting appears to be consistent with their revised policy on how to deal with dogs.

Assistant Police Chief Raul Munguia said two officers arrived at a house in the 5000 block of Delores Avenue about 4 p.m. Thursday in response to a 911 call. The caller reported a broken window she thought may have been part of a burglary that day, he said.

As the officers approached the house, Munguia said, a pit bull came out from under the home and charged at one of the officers. The officer sidestepped the dog, he said, but it charged at the officer again.

The officer then fired his gun twice at the dog, wounding it, Munguia said. The officers and the owner took the dog to an animal shelter for treatment, but it was euthanized at the owner's request, he said.

"This is a an unfortunate incident," Munguia said. "This is something that our officers do not like to do, as far as having to shoot an animal."

The incident was the third time Austin police shot a dog this year.

One of the dog's owners, Johnetta Miller, denied that the dog was violent or aggressive. Miller said they kept the dog, a 9-year-old pit bull named Papa, on a 6-foot-long tether tied to a tree in front of their house. He lived under the porch, she said. Although he would often bark at passers-by or come out to sniff visitors in the yard, he never charged or bit anyone, Miller said.

"I think the officer got spooked, and he pulled out his gun," said Miller, 20, who lives there with her sister and mother. She is upset about the situation and wonders why the officer didn't use a stun gun or some other nonlethal means to subdue Papa.

"I feel like it could have been handled better," she said.

Munguia said the shooting appears to be in line with the department's dog policy. It was revised this year after the department experienced a public relations backlash when an officer shot a blue heeler named Cisco while responding to a reported domestic disturbance on East Fifth Street.

The new policy clarifies that lethal force is authorized if officers decide there is "imminent danger of bodily harm" to themselves or another human, not when a dog is simply acting aggressively. Munguia said he thinks the officer who fired the shots, Nicolas Draper, was in such danger.

"Right now, from what we're looking at initially, it does appear to be within policy," he said.

Munguia said Draper underwent the online training on how to deal with dogs mandated under the new policy. All cadets are required to have classroom training on dog encounters as well, he said.

Senior police officer Dennis Farris said dispatchers had no information about a dangerous animal at that address.

Police officials said Draper has been with the department for about a year and "has no past history of use of force." He remains on regular duty, officials said.

Miller's sister Brittany Miller said that when she called 911 about the possible break-in at the house, she mentioned they had a dog. An audio clip of the call provided by the Police Department contradicts this.

City ordinances prohibit tethering or chaining dogs, but the Millers claim they were not in violation of that because they were always home when Papa was tethered. In the meantime, they plan to get another dog to take his place.

"That dog was our protection," Johnetta Miller said. "He's been through everything with us."

tod evans
08-18-2012, 11:39 AM
Many people value their dogs lives more than the cops.

angelatc
08-18-2012, 11:56 AM
Many people value their dogs lives more than the cops.

There's a good reason for that. My dog would sacrifice his life to save mine. A cop will shoot a dog for no good reason.

tod evans
08-18-2012, 11:58 AM
There's a good reason for that. My dog would sacrifice his life to save mine. A cop will shoot a dog for no good reason.

Loyal, trustworthy, selfless, loving, protective, intelligent...........Dogs that is.

Anti Federalist
08-18-2012, 06:05 PM
blimp

Origanalist
08-18-2012, 08:10 PM
Loyal, trustworthy, selfless, loving, protective, intelligent...........Dogs that is.

Well, you sure weren't talking about police.

Professor8000
08-18-2012, 08:43 PM
Police showing up unannounced... not declaring their presence... proceeding onto private property... sounds like criminal trespassing, reckless endangerment, and destruction of property. Considering the amount of time between the original 911 call and the police officer arriving, there is no reason to believe that there is a crime currently in progress. Therefore, the police officer had no business walking around the back of the house.

heavenlyboy34
08-18-2012, 09:37 PM
Police showing up unannounced... not declaring their presence... proceeding onto private property... sounds like criminal trespassing, reckless endangerment, and destruction of property. Considering the amount of time between the original 911 call and the police officer arriving, there is no reason to believe that there is a crime currently in progress. Therefore, the police officer had no business walking around the back of the house.
Feels rather like the 1930's USSR, doesn't it? :(

Professor8000
08-18-2012, 09:43 PM
Feels rather like the 1930's USSR, doesn't it? :(

USSR, Germany, Italy, various SE Asian Countries

Dr.3D
08-18-2012, 09:52 PM
Maybe the cop was afraid he would get choked by the chain the dog was on if he got too close to it. As I said last night, I bet the dog was in his own yard. Thought there was a fence though... but a chain is just about as good.

Professor8000
08-18-2012, 09:57 PM
"I pledge allegiance to the globe of the United States of Earth, and to the democracy for which it stands, once race for us all, indivisible, with permission and welfare for all."