Man sues city after police shoot, kill dog

[Ash]

Heh, you know, in our fair city merely a block from you my wife parked her car at my office (down from city hall at the time). It was legally parked at a diagonal. She used my Jeep for the weekend to shuttle our little tyke about. At 2:00AM, she gets a call that there has been an accident with her car and that she had to come down there. An officer had slammed into said legally parked car, spinning it about so that it was facing up the street, parallel with the curb. The car was totaled and could not be driven. At 2:00AM, mind you, the officer tried first to blame my wife for illegally parking. When the skid marks were shown to have originated from between the painted lines, she claimed she was driving down the street, checking doors to make sure the shops were safe. Except she was driving fast enough to spin my wife's car (this street, as you know, is basically two blocks long).

Well, long story short, the police agreed that my wife was not at fault for the accident (given she was asleep at the time and the car legally parked, this should have been obvious from the start). However, they did cite her for not having her driver's license and proof of insurance with her. My wife had come down to the scene with our 3 month old after having been awakened at 2:00AM by a telephone call. She forgot her purse at home.

Well, the city attorney is in my Sunday school class and he was pretty underwhelmed by the whole thing and ensured the ticket would be torn up.

Now, I want to emphasise that in this small town the police are generally pretty good. However, CYA occurs, and this officer was certainly trying to C her A. However, it was capricious to give my wife a ticket for not having insurance or a drivers license at 2:00AM after having to drag herself out of bed with an infant.

Ash

 

[fletcher]

This case doesn't even come close.

If my negligence resulted in harm to an individual, I would sure be held liable. That being said, police are people too, and should be held to the same standard for their actions. I'm not saying jail time or anything (although the ones in Atlanta you mention deserve that), but they need to be suspended or fired as a reminder to be thorough in their job.

 

[ilbob]

Not at all, it is my contention that the article is not reporting on the incident at all (it is two years too late for that), but on the lawsuit filed. As such it uses excerpts from the suit, which may or may not be presented by the plaintiff correctly, and which are intended to convince a court that the plaintiff should receive financial compensation.

Note the way the article is phrased.

The article uses the word "allege", presumably when referring to what the suit claims happened, but also uses the word "said" when quoting police. I am pretty sure a reporter would know the difference between "allege" and "said". Note it does not state that the plaintiff "alleges" the police "said" something, it states the police "said" it.

At the time, police said

Would seem to indicate a quote by police at the time of the incident.

 

[Deanimator]

If my negligence resulted in harm to an individual, I would sure be held liable. That being said, police are people too, and should be held to the same standard for their actions. I'm not saying jail time or anything (although the ones in Atlanta you mention deserve that), but they need to be suspended or fired as a reminder to be thorough in their job.

Nobody's ever going to accuse me of being a cheerleader for the police, especially not the police themselves. However, I'm not sure the cops in question need to be fired. I'd certainly dock their pay, both for actual damages to the home, and for tort damages against the victim. In addition, I would give them career damaging evaluations. All of this is of course contingent upon a finding of actual negligence on their part.

As far as the Atlanta cops, they don't need jail time. They need to be strapped to a gurney and needles inserted in their veins. They committed a murder and tried to cover it up by impugning the reputation of the victim, an innocent elderly woman. The fact that none of the three in question will die at the hands of the state calls into question the presence of real justice in the State of Georgia. They're just as much cowardly murderers as Officer Bobby Cutts Jr., the North Canton cop who murdered his pregnant girlfriend here in Ohio.

 

[Officers'Wife]

Hi Firethorn,

Most people don't WANT to be against cops. Give people the impression you're trying to do your job as best as you can and they'd be willing to forgive quite a bit. Best way to give this impression? Actually do your job!

Very little I can say can top that. What LEO's hate most is to be compared to people with real jobs. Had that been a gated community and security had gotten the wrong house on a noise complaint those persons would be looking for a new job. If one of my brother's employees dragged a chisel plow across a neighbor's yard and he allowed the man back on the farm the neighbor would own all of my brother's assets. An LEO acts like an idiot and he gets a paid vacation. Who will protect society from society's protectors?

Selena

 

[gym]

Anyone who shoots a dog, for doing what a dog is supposed to do, is a gutless ass, and should be prosecuted for the "murder of a loved one". Yes I own dogs, Labs and Rotti's, The are inherentlly protective of thier masters, and love unconditionally, and I have never seen any normal dog, harm anyone, "unless you provoke them or some moron rains them to fight,aka Vic. my rottis an labs play with my grandkids from day 1, and for clumsy big dogs, they have never even knocked any of my 3 grandaughters over. Some people are just morons, an shouldn't wear the badge. It's become common place these days to just shoot the dog, when checking on a domestic or serving a warrant, the excuse is always the same, the dog growled, no kidding that's what they are supposed to do. Makes me sick. The only thing they will understand is when it comes out of thier pocket. It's like these cops tasering homeless people left and right, hey if you can't question someone because you are afraid of them, then become a Baker or a roofer, not a law enforcement officer. I remember when they changed the physucal, "so everyone could pass it", everyone shouldn't be able to pass it.Who wants a 4 ft 300lb police officer to show up when you need help. We all saw what the fool did with the disabled paraplegic guy in the weelchair on the news, duh, that's not a LEO, that 's the "lunch lady". I feel better now

 

[FortyCalGlock]

My biggest problem with this is that the police officers entered private property without a warrant and without "just cause". An alarm report from an alarm company does not provide "just cause" as the officers did not verify the address. These officers are in the wrong and should be punished. If I make an error in my job and damage property or cause injuries, I will be fined, maybe lose my job, and if my negligence is bad enough go to jail. The police obviously have to be held to a higher standard than the general public, as well as being punished more severely when there is negligence or willful malpractice. Without this, can LEOs really argue against a lack of respect or "haters"?

 

[XDKingslayer]

I still find it funny that most of the people here are willing to condemn the Police based almost solely upon the individual testimony of a person who is seeking financial gain, and which is drawn from a legal suit in which the filer may say virtually anything regardless of truth (such as this example).

Oh I think there is a tad bit of difference between this and some nutjob saying Barry Bonds sold steriods to nuns and that Michael Vick stole his dogs, sold them on Ebay and then used the money to buy guns from Iran...

But hey, if that's how low you gotta go to prove a point, have at it.

 

[XDKingslayer]

What LEO's hate most is to be compared to people with real jobs.

Then they should quit acting like every day people with real jobs.

They have a job that should be held to a higher standard and they should hold themselves to a higher standard. They should hold accountability over themselves and their actions. This incident is yet another form of proof that they don't.

I'm also tired of hearing the words "officer safety" and "going home at the end of the night". Here's a wake up call, being a police officer isn't a safe job. If you want safe, go ride a desk somewhere. If you want to go home at the end of the night, work at Burger King. I didn't worry about going home safe at night when I was in the Marines, I worried about those beneath me going home at night. I worried about their safety, not mine.

Maybe if cops started taking a few plays out of our book, this crap wouldn't happen. Maybe, just maybe if cops started worrying about someone other than themselves, stupid stuff like this wouldn't happen. I know a lot of cops good and bad, but the good ones always have the same quality, the last thing their concerned about is themselves.

I can honestly see past the shooting of the dog. I can even see past having the wrong house. Hey, it can happen. I've assaulted the wrong beach once or twice at no fault of my own. But what I can't wrap my head around is why it didn't click in these guy's heads that (cue Lewis Black) something was amiss? Does it really take a rocket scientist to wonder why the "robber" was taking a shower? Does it really take a MENSA member to maybe sort this out inside instead of dragging the guy outside naked? And I'm pretty sure it doesn't take a Nobel Prize Winner to do it within 30 minutes.

Oh, but I'm just an recliner jockey and I can't offer an opinion because I'm not doing the job and I don't understand...

 

[ilbob]

My biggest problem with this is that the police officers entered private property without a warrant and without "just cause".

maybe you meant probable cause.

i think you will find that these days the courts will accept just about anything as PC. the bar is very low.

 

[Urbana John]

I agree with most here---as far as both my kids/dogs go. One really doesn't like strangers, especially in any type of uniform--even Carhart type shirt & pants.
Like someone else said----they CAN"T read!!! But once he knows you, he'll turn around to get his butt scratched!!! My other one is kinda shy, and once she heard a gunshot, she'd be running back to me.
Either way---one would wake me up----make either "good" doggie noises,or "bad" doggie noises------family members live upstairs------would be "good"----"bad" noises, would mean that I need to "arm" myself with one of four LOADED weapons next to me, while taking cover behind my bed.
"IF" someone "knocks" on my door----late at night----I'll be at low ready
"IF" someone "kicks" in my door---late at night---
I won't be the first to fire, but the second one
We live in the country address is on the mail box and the front of the house, NO EXCUSE for a wrong address
If "they" go thru the front door (upstairs) , they'd be met with 3 other dogs and 2 other "armed" adults--------a school teacher and an ex Marine.
NO REASON FOR "JBT"S TO BE HERE in the first place!!
Which would give me even MORE time to get prepaired for a "counter"strike.
I won't go into detail what would happen to "ANYBODY" that harmed my family
I'm almost 60yrs old, and I'm counting on them to take care of me----if not them----let the STATE!!!

sorry for the rant, but it just 'sickens" me to hear about "good people" and "bad LEO's"

UJ

 

[icebones]

what the hell! the ticket torn up? for what? sleeping, that car was legally parked, unless the road is icy, or you are not paying attention, its hard to hit a parked car, the city should pay for the reapirs or replace the vehicle.

on another point, why can a teenage pizza deliverman, who gets paid minimun wage, with no special driving training or other training
(like the training police officers get) can drive to the RIGHT adress in under 30minutes,

this may be an old anecdote, but order a pizza and call 911, see who gets to your house first...


and something else, if ANY one shoots my dogs, i will personally break both of their legs with a baseball bat, you do not harm anyone i care about, family member, loved one or even a dog.

 

[FTA84]

I did not read the last two pages or so of replies. I apologize if someone brought this up already.

The dog shooting is quite the curiousity.

Suppose the police had the correct address. Would they have told the owners, "We had to terminate your dog to save your Krups (TM) coffee machine."

Odd.

Since people have brought up here that police don't usually respond to house alarms and that it took over 30 minutes to find out they 'were in the wrong house'. Maybe this was a cover-up for an unjustified raid for something else.

Also, the police need to be held responsible. I hate to burden the officer anymore than they already are, perhaps their cheif or whom ever sent the police to the wrong location should be held responsible. Making the city pay is simply making the tax payers pay for the mistakes of the officers the tax payers would rather see fired. Instead, the same careless individuals remain on payroll, running around costing the tax payers more of their own money.

 

[Erik]

Drift:

Re the "no reason to be at my home" train of thought:

I have "been " at the home of several people just this year who could lay claim to the same. The problem was that not everyone in their house hold could say the same...

Back on topic:

Any other articles or info on this one?

 

[Erik]

Doubled