"There has never been a documented case of a dog killing a police officer."

[TywinLannister]

Half of intentional shootings by police involve dogs, study says

Dog shootings by police are mostly avoidable and preventable, say groups pushing for officers to learn more about animal behavior.

By Mike Carter


There has never been a documented case of a dog killing a police officer.

The same can't be said for police killing dogs.

Every year, hundreds — if not thousands — of animals, mostly canines, are killed by police or animal-control officers. According to the National Canine Research Council, up to half of the intentional shootings by police involve dogs.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019809359_rosie02m.html

[liberty2897]

Thanks for posting this article. I wish more "reporters" would pick up on this, investigate and actually report.


The COPS report provides just that sort of useful information to street officers, said Cleary, who was one of its co-authors. For example, it contains diagrams to help officers assess the threat posed by a dog based on its "posture, vocalizations and facial expressions," and provides defensive options short of deadly force to avoid encounters with agitated, frightened or aggressive animals.

"They are very preventable, and most wouldn't happen if police knew just a little bit more about dogs," he said.

I am pessimistic about officers ability to read and understand diagrams. There have been reports of those seeking employment in law enforcement being rejected due to "applicants scoring too high on IQ tests". Maybe more reporting of these incidents will spur some public interest in requiring higher standards (at least average intelligence or above) for law enforcement.

[RonPaulFanInGA]

"There has never been a documented case of a dog killing a police officer."

To be fair, there are probably not a lot of cases period of a dog killing someone who was carrying a loaded handgun.

[liberty2897]

From what I can gather doing some quick searching (nothing verified)
Approximately 0.3 % of the US population are considered "law enforcement" Dog attacks resulting in death average around 17 per year for the US population of ~300 million.

[edit]
So, in any given year, a person in the US has a 1 in 17,647,058 chance of being killed by a dog. Law enforcement (including all forms federal and state) would have a 1 in 5,882,352,941 chance of being killed by a dog in a given year. (I think I did that right?) Considering cops generally just shoot dogs that are in the vicinity, I would say I have no problem believing that there are no documented cases.