Cop goes to wrong house, shoots owners dog.

[mrhappy1489]

Further details (and text article, and what appears to be an unedited dashcam video): http://kutnews.org/post/details-emerge-police-shooting-cisco-pet-dog?nopop=1

Okay so, first thing the cop does is order the man to put his hands up. What caused him to issue this order? Did Paxton appear to be a threat?

Then, in conflict with his first order, he tells the man "get your dog." However, he shoots the dog less than a second afterward, right after saying "dog."

Did he not see the dog at first? This would explain the conflicting orders. The dog must've been rushing toward the officer, otherwise there would've been more time between the order to restrain the mutt and the shooting.

Now put yourself into the officer's shoes: you're confronting a man you don't know, and a dog you don't know, and the dog is rushing toward you. The man, for all you know, just finished beating up his girlfriend. The dog, you know nothing about, it could even be a fighting dog. The dog is barking and running full tilt at you. You have half a second to react.

Even if the dog is friendly, if he jumps on you that's going to be distracting, may even cause you accidentally fire your weapon if you have it drawn (and watching the video further, he did already had it drawn), and would also provide an opening for the man to either escape or attack you. And if the dog isn't friendly, well...

It's tragic, to be sure, but I'm not really sure I can blame the officer.

This might come across as stereotyping, but are you Irish. I'm sure you understand why I'm asking this question, to be sure.

 

[godofallu]

Did the dog attack the officer?

That's really the only important fact, and I didn't see it.

 

[The Great Purtabo]

Did the dog attack the officer?

That's really the only important fact, and I didn't see it.

Growling and barking, didn't attack.

 

[GistoftheFist]

This is why they don't give Officer Doofy a gun.

 

[evilneko]

This might come across as stereotyping, but are you Irish. I'm sure you understand why I'm asking this question, to be sure.

Not really, no. I may have some Scottish or Irish (even Wiki is unsure) ancestry but I am native-born Texan.

Oh, and no I don't understand why you ask. Why do you ask?

 

[ajemas]

It really is a shame. Unfortunately, he probably won't receive more than a slap on the wrist due to how much immunity being part of the police force gives you.

 

[WaysideMaze]

2. Cop goes into wrong house DESPITE HAVING THE INFORMATION (seriously it's not like he was picking a house at random) and barges in

Wrong.
Watch the video. At around 2.30 'but the 911 caller gave the wrong address'.
The officer went to the house he was told to go to.

However, the officer still could have handled the situation far better than he did.

 

[WaysideMaze]

OT: Cop should not have had his gun out when he entered the house. Pure and simple. He overreacted, which is irresponsible as an officer of the law.

Its a very good thing you are not in any sort of dangerous profession cause you wouldn't last two days.

Walking into a potentially dangerous situation without being prepared for it is not exactly a survival trait.

It was a potential domestic dispute, not a gang war. Yes, domestics can be violent, but was going in guns first really the most appropriate course of action?

 

[WaysideMaze]

Sad that the dog died.

Why is every cop story in the US bate for people to jump on US police officers or the US for violence. Withe the tens of thousand responses every day, "mistakes" happen, criminal acts happen, great things happen, but mostly mundane things happen. The sad part is every single one of those has to be treated the same way, because any situation can turn bad. Spend some time on google and you can see anyone of those things, pulling over Batman helping children, crazy grandma pulling a gun on an officer, officer beating helpless man.

For those that don't know police protocal, and I am no expert, but domestic violence is a violent crime and an officer has to expect violence, he could have a gun, killed her, etc. So going in with his gun drawn is not an issue. He told the guy to raise his hands. A large dog potentially went after him. You have a split second to assess the situation, potential violent criminal who may have beat up someone and potential violent dog guarding him coming after you. Do you lay your gun down, and pet the the puppy hoping to calm him? Not many options in this case. Dogs don't stop when they see a gun like humans, it's a deterant to humans. Pets will still attack. If Dog attacks, all Hell could break lose, sadly for his safety and the safety of the victim (which again, he still thinks there is one), he has to shoot the dog. If he goes down... Lastly, officers respond to calls withouth back up often. Depends on the situation, timing, size of force, etc.

Outcome - do a review of procedures, see if there is anyway to improve the process. As any shots fired, the officer if probably on paid leave. Police Force should compensate the man for pain and suffering, but not extreme. I would sue the actual person who was committing domestic violence. This doesn't happen if there is no call, in which no crime was occuring.

I would say that going in gun drawn is entirely the issue (despite the misleading thread title). Could he not have knocked first? Explained to the residents that there has been a report of domestic abuse and that he needs to follow up? My apologies, I don't know a great deal about police procedure but going into a house gun drawn and screaming at the residents really doesn't seem like it would be department policy.

Going in gun first should not be the primary response to every situation.

 

[Nouw]

captcha: klatu berada nikto
How awesome is that?

Dude, it's actually klatu *cough*berasomething*cough* nickel .

 

[Ultra Man30]

This was extremely terrible. That is actually all I can say.

 

[Electrogecko]

Well......it sucks ass.

But I wonder, how many people would be upset if it weren't the wrong house, or maybe even if the other party in this "domestic violence" case had been seriously inured or killed by the man?

 

[Leadfinger]

Oh my god a human being made a mistake, you are kidding me. Yeah I thought the rest of us are perfect. That is the final straw, time to make a "lets kill all cops thread." May your torches burn bright and your pitchforks pointy, it's cop killing time. Everyone on this planet signed a pact to be perfect, I won't stand a glitch in the system. Almost can't type right now because my perfect world is falling apart. Lets put the joking aside and say he made a mistake, will probably feel bad for a long time.

When people with guns make mistakes, it's more than just a boo-boo. And there's a disturbing pattern of law enforcement turning those guns on the very people they are meant to protect and serve.

 

[Leadfinger]

Oh my god a human being made a mistake, you are kidding me. Yeah I thought the rest of us are perfect. That is the final straw, time to make a "lets kill all cops thread." May your torches burn bright and your pitchforks pointy, it's cop killing time. Everyone on this planet signed a pact to be perfect, I won't stand a glitch in the system. Almost can't type right now because my perfect world is falling apart. Lets put the joking aside and say he made a mistake, will probably feel bad for a long time.

When people with guns make mistakes, it's more than just a boo-boo. And there's a disturbing pattern of law enforcement turning those guns on the very people they are meant to protect and serve.

Okay man. You know to make mistakes is to be human. There was a time when I ran over somebodys dog on accident. Make my peace with it, or do I owe that person every piece of my life. Even I can admit that he should have to pay for it. All people screw up in a big way. Loathe dogs with a passion, I don't want to see them get hurt.

Yes, I take your point that to err is human. Also, the officer in question had some bad luck that 911 sent him to the wrong address, though he also did make an error in judgement by going in with gun drawn and failing to properly asses the situation. The point I wish to make is that there is a larger issue. These kinds of incidents involving excessive force on the part of the police occur too frequently. There is a problem with the training and mindset with the police in the U.S.
captcha-my bad

 

[infinity_turtles]

I get a lot of people don't like it when cops screw up, but dogs can be dangerous animals. If he thought the dog would go for him, then I don't blame him for shooting the dog. Cops put themselves on the line, and minimizing the risk to themselves is going to be one of their priorities in the field. Especially true when responding to a 911 call regarding a violent situation. It sucks that he got told the wrong address, but this isn't like a lot of the cases where cops abuse their power. He made a judgement call in the field, and we don't even know if the call was unnecessary for the officers' safety. Not like the dog knew the difference between a cop with a gun and a burglar.

 

[Ix Rebound]

Oh my god a human being made a mistake, you are kidding me. Yeah I thought the rest of us are perfect. That is the final straw, time to make a "lets kill all cops thread." May your torches burn bright and your pitchforks pointy, it's cop killing time. Everyone on this planet signed a pact to be perfect, I won't stand a glitch in the system. Almost can't type right now because my perfect world is falling apart. Lets put the joking aside and say he made a mistake, will probably feel bad for a long time.

you would be probably singing a different tune if it had been YOUR dog

 

[Smooth Operator]

It's America, shooting things is their thing, the only strange part to this story is that the owner didn't get shot as well, I'm betting most Americans would like it if he did.

 

[mrhappy1489]

This might come across as stereotyping, but are you Irish. I'm sure you understand why I'm asking this question, to be sure.

Not really, no. I may have some Scottish or Irish (even Wiki is unsure) ancestry but I am native-born Texan.

Oh, and no I don't understand why you ask. Why do you ask?

To be sure is a very typical phrase associated with Irishmen, I know this for whatever reason, which is the only reason why I asked. I've actually had a lot of luck guessing the ethnicity of people on the escapist based on very acute details, which is why I asked whether or not you were Irish.