Do I really have to justify the selection of Filer, Idaho Police Officer Tarik Hassani as our Irresponsible Gun Owner of the Day? Suffice it to say, Office Hussani has no business carrying a firearm, either as a cop-civilian or a civilian-civilian. Let this be a lesson to anyone who believes that it’s OK for law enforcement officer to carry firearms denied non-LEOs because the civil servants are “better trained” than armed taxpayers. [h/t AH]
“I’m sorry I shot your dog”
Bullshit…
“I don’t want to be bit again”
Then find another line of work you pantywaist
Is the loudspeaker on the police car broken? Can’t the oficer point the front of the police car toward the house and use the intercom to request the homeowner to bring the dogs in? Does the cop have so many gadgets and tools that he can’t figure out which one would work best? No loud speaker, no cell phone, no phone book, no pepper spray, no tazer, no club – use the gun because it is fun!
Meh! Cops have been shooting dogs for over 100 yrs. Sorry but the dog was aggressive, and running wild; this isnt some rural farm but the city and any dog owner that is that irresponsible is a FOOL. This dog could’ve bit a,small child or smaller dog. The officer shouldn’t have approached after he realized the,dog was aggressive…bottom line dead mutt, owner can apply for compensation for loss of his animal…..
The article doesn’t say this but, the dog got out during a 9 year old’s birthday party, where everyone (including a wave of 9 year olds) are running in and out of the doors and with all that excitement of course the dog runs around excited too… The owner of the dog has Parkinson’s disease and is wheel chair bound. The dog was shot and killed as the 9 year old boy watched from the window… So, go ahead, open your mouth and insert your foot now.
I do think it’s funny that an LEO “feared for his safety” but a party of 9-year-olds did not.
Dog was not aggressive. You don’t know dogs. He could have shot the dog in the leg, shoulder whatever, but not in the face. This is a muslim officer and they are all terrified of dogs. Dogs are illicit in islam and must be killed. They hate dogs, just like their prophet.
He’s not Muslim. At least one person who lives in the area and knows the family has said so. He might have (probably did) handle it poorly, but it’s not because he’s Muslim. Nice try, Sunshine.
“this isnt some rural farm but the city”
FAIL, Bucky. It’s a VILLAGE of 2500 people. Try again later.
Agreed.
People piss and moan on here about cops being aggressive and shooting dogs.
But if you were jogging with your gun and a dog came out and chased you and acted like that they would shoot it too. Or if a neighbor’s dog did the same thing.
There was a leash law, dog was impeding the officer. Officers can speak dog… they have to deal with the problem.
Have you been in Filer, ID? Does not come close to “City”. Population 2500. Unless it is county fair week and the population doubles. This is rural America.
I have posted this here, like 7 times. But the MFers don’t read my posts, because they don’t think I know what I’m talking about.
I ASSURE EVERYONE, I *DO*. I do my research for the philistines. They just don’t give a rat’s ass.
gangrenous_ghoul:
” … if you were jogging with your gun and a dog came out …”
I could envision a lack of alternatives there. What if, on the other hand, you were in the safety of a patrol car with access to radio, telephone, lights, sirens … and under no time pressure to reach the owner’s door to save someone from imminent harm?
What might you do then?
Seriously? I doubt you will ever read this but did you even watch the video? Do you have any experience with dogs? If either of those dogs were aggressive he would have been bitten. They were trying to warn him off, which is what dogs are supposed to do when strangers approach.
As others have said, he had plenty of options available, including having dispatch call the residence. Or you know, actually be man and deal with it.
The only valid reason would be a life and death situation going on in the house otherwise he had all the time in the world. The dog died a heroes death trying to protect its master from a madman with a gun. Clearly a case of unreasonable force. If a cop can’t deal with ordinary everyday situations without pulling his gun he has no business being a cop.
That was a BS shoot, the officer was not in danger. But to expect that an officer’s job is to be bit by dogs who are not on leashes…wrong, seriously wrong. That’s not his job or any cops job. We have every right to protect ourselves. That aside….this cop is fail
Wouldn’t it be nice if they had a department who’s job it was to control animals? We could even call it Animal Control… Oh wait…
I could not disagree more! A loose dog is a menace. He doesnt know how nice the dog is, just like he said, and – NEWS FLASH – a dog is just an animal, not a human. Anyone who has ever seen a dog rip apart a cute little bunny, or a goat, or God forbid a kid knows that under the cute is a wild animal without the discernment and emotional control we HUMANS have been blessed with.
This policeman pulled it right back into order. He was respectful and calm.
That could have been my kid instead of this officer. Had he showed up at my door I would be pissed. The second he pulls himself back the way he did I would shake his hand.
I say we’ll done – and I am sure that all the kids who grew up watching animals talk in Disney movies aren’t going to understand.
“Well done” – Yep, God forbid a PO use some discretion. Even if you think the PO was justified this wasn’t ‘well done’ unless, of course, you’re a sadistic creep who believes that State power allows State agents to do whatever the hell they please.
You are a grade-A idiot if you do not understand that a pet’s actions are directly under the master’s responsibility. The dog owner was a complete idiot to let a labrador loose, unleashed and without supervision. I’ve watched the video three times to make myself a clear opinion about it, and no matter how much I despise police abuse, I believe this police officer could reasonable be in fear for his life or bodily harm, because a dog was menacing to bite him.
I have been in this situation myself before, and I am no police officer, though I used non-lethal methods. I would not have hesitated either.
And I did grew up watching Disney movies featuring animals, and I am a libertarian. So call me a sadistic creep if you like. If I’m approached by a dog that acts so menacingly and I don’t personally know anyone in the neighborhood, I believe I can fear for my life. Didn’t want a dead dog? Leash it or keep it inside, it’s not fucking difficult to be a reponsible dog owner.
Apparently it’s not difficult to pull a gun & kill someone’s pet because one feels mildly threatened either. And, you’re a Libertarian? What the hell kind of Libertarian encourages the use of deadly force by an agent of the State based on mild provocation?
I’m not saying the dog owner didn’t have a duty to restrain his dog, but this doesn’t give license to kill it. It’s funny I’ve had so many LEOs weigh-in on this. They all say the shooting was justified, but they wouldn’t have done it? Huh???
POs must act based on the standard of a reasonable person in similar circumstances. As a so-called Libertarian, you should at least understand this minimal restraint on government agents.
Please don’t refer to yourself as a Libertarian. You give the rest of us a bad name.
Animals are God’s true creatures. Anybody who has no compassion for animals, which you so truly sound like in your statement, will burn. Come shoot my pets buddy………..
Ugh, yeah, still could not disagree with you more. Man is the only part of God’s Creation that He formed with His own hands – and literally breathed His life into – and man is the only part of Creation that is made in His image.
Man was given dominion over the animals. What happened here is just that, dominion.
I have been menaced by a dog. I have even owned a menacing dog … that I loved dearly! The second, and I do mean the instant, she showed aggression towards anyone who was not actively attacking my person or my family I was there to correct her. She was trained to attack and call off at my command and she was NEVER free to roam the neighborhood unattended.
Again, that officer shows up on my door just as he did well then I should have been paying more attention and her death is on my hands, not his.
Ok Jomar, me beating the crap out of you in front of your kids (God I hope you don’t have any) constitutes DOMINION? You would be well deserving of it as well. GTF out of the US please….
Here’s a thought for you to consider. The article said the officer had been working for the town of Filer for the past 14 years. This town is roughly about 1 mile square and has about 2500 people living there. One would think that in 14 years, a good cop would know just about everyone, including their dogs. He would especially know anyone who might have Special Needs that has lived in that town for longer than a couple of months. He should be able to recognize the signs of a birthday party (it was daylight). He also should know most of the dogs in town, especially the possibly dangerous ones. At his age and so-called experience he should be smart enough to not be aggressive with a pet protecting his own property. Instead, he gets out of the car with a gun drawn! This man has a mental problem with dogs. Knowing that, he should never go on a call where dogs might be. Can you imagine him responding to a Domestic Violence call with a couple of yappy Chihuahuas? He is no longer “police officer” material and should seek other employment.
Im sorry but the moment you take the life of one of God’s creatures for no reason you just found you a warm place in hell. The Koran and Islam teaches hate towards domesticated animals and spite to those who own them. I wish the stray puppies of this world would be turned loose and eat their un-American asses up. Im a Texan and a LE and hunter. I hunt for the meat, not the trophy and own 7 cats and two dogs I love dearly and they are well behaved and any law who shot my pets would feel the retribution in his chest after my .40 hit them.
First, if you think ‘a dog is just an animal, not a human,’ you need to rethink as many of us with animal companions consider such our children.
Yes, the owner was responsible for the loose dog/s, BUT the LEO was equally responsible as he was well aware of the fact he was responding to a dog-at-large call.
Second, the kids in the home for the party were obviously unafraid of the dog/s.
The concern here should be that an armed LEO in the profession to protect and serve who had several other options at his disposal choose instead to use the most dangerous and lethal by discharging his weapon within how many feet of the very civilians and their human children he is under oath to protect and serve?
Third, if a civilian shoots and/or kills a police dog, said person is often prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and heavily fined for shooting a LEO. In all fairness, a LEO who shoots a civilian dog–who may be someone’s fur-kid (no value can be placed on one’s heart) or a service dog (replacement can run into many thousands)–deserves being treated as though the LEO shot/killed someone’s kid or stole/destroyed someone’s multi-thousand dollar investment.
Respectful and calm? How is shooting sombodys dog so you can get to their front door being respectful?
@Jomar…Respectful and calm? How is shooting sombodys dog so you can get to their front door being respectful?
Jomar and Karena both need to learn something about dogs. Neither of those dogs were being aggressive in the sense that anyone was about to be bitten. They were barking to warn him off as well as warn their master that someone was trespassing. Look how many times he was able to approach them and not once did they try to bite him.
As others have said, loudspeaker? Have dispatch call the house? Was the call even something that warranted a shooting? If it was over loose dogs, then call Animal Control as he had confirmed the dogs were loose. Sure it would be nice to give the owner a chance to put them up to avoid a fine, but to shoot a dog instead of oh say secure the scene? Keep all those kids you guys keep talking about away, perhaps? Under no circumstance should should flip the siren and get their attention.
He’s a coward, and you guys apparently don’t know what you don’t know.
I think it was aggressive and when you are being circled by two dogs its bad news. It did approach him and attempt to lunge a few times. I have been bit by a dog like this. It may be protecting the property but 2 of them make them do stupid things. I’d call into dispatch to have the owner called. If lunged at again i’d shoot it too. Dog bites are nasty.
Christ! You talk as it were a Kimodo Dragon, and not a dog. A dog that is wagging its tail is not about to bite.
Let’s see. Dog was barking at officer, but doesn’t attack. Dog goes back on property and calms down. Officer approaches dog (head on, very threatening in “dog language”) goes on to dog’s territory. Dog acts as dog and barks.
Officer shoots and kills dog.
If I did that, it would be animal cruelty, probably illegal discharge of a firearm and a couple of other charges.
Whatcha think the outcome of this will be?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBoesEFWZnM
\\m// Murderface Murderface Murderface 🙂
See ya later, George! Don’t forget to write.
….yes…what a dangerous animal that was…barking at a stranger coming on to their property…with his tail swinging back and forth…that really displays aggression…I think if I was that dog’s owner, I would file suit against the cop, city and county…as the dog was not “loose” but was actually on the owner’s property…
…but I bet..after a year or so…after most people forgot what had happened…and I’d won the law suits…I would be on the lookout for this pig of an animal..this “law officer”…I would be on the look out for the man’s state of mental depression….and I bet..after a year of “reflecting” upon what he’d done to the poor dog…I bet they would find that “officer” had eaten his own gun….I’m certain that they would find an intoxicated cop…sitting alone in his sad. little car…having shat himself… and with his head blown off…again…by his own “hand”..and definitely..with his own weapon….the creepy pig that defines what this human-animal is…I guess he just wouldn’t be able to “live” with his conscience…eh?
RJ O’Guillory
Author-
Webster Groves – The Life of an Insane Family
I could never shoot a dog,never, never, never. I just wouldnt have the heart to do it. I’d rather not kill anything if I could help it.
I had to kill a dog once. hated it. But it had to be done.
Same here. Not a proud moment, but it had to be done. No more dogs after that. He ruined it for me. And I ruined it for him.
I grew up in the sticks. Asshats from the city were constantly dumping animals. The thinly populated county we lived in didn’t have animal control or a shelter. If there was a problem animal and someone called the sheriff, a deputy would come out and shoot the animal. End of story.
Needless to say, people as a rule didn’t call the sheriff. I always felt bad for my father, as he was the one that had to dispatch other people’s cast off animals that were hanging around our place. Those were never happy days for him-or any of us.
First off, anyone defending this mental midget should have their head examined. As a young man I moved to a large city for school and delivered pizzas for a side job, I probably ran into more dogs in a month than this moron has in his entire life. Act aggressive and the dog acts the same. I’ve never been bitten by a dog. I always had a few milkbones in my car because my job brought me into regular contact with dogs. But hey, my IQ is higher than 70, this guy must have rode the short bus to school.
Normal people feel like hell when they have to use their weapon on a living breathing being. Taking any life should not come easy. My dad made me put down my first dog that had cancer. He said I had to put it down because “Sometimes as a man you’ll have to make hard decisions and do things that will make you feel terrible. In the end, even though you’ll feel like crap, you will know that it had to be done.” I was 12 at the time. If this dill weed felt that shooting this poor dog had to be done then why did he lie and then try to apologize, justify, and make excuses after he admitted that the dog hadn’t actually bit him? Because the camera and audio were running and even sociopaths want to keep their jobs.
This “cop” was just looking to use his service pistol on anything he could find the first chance he got. It brought back that sick depressing feeling I had when I was 12. That he lied in such a matter of fact way and had no remorse for what he had done shows that he shouldn’t be an officer of the law. You are given many many options before a gun should even leave a holster. I have no problem with this guy losing his job, he’s more dangerous than any dog I’ve come across.
THIS IS NOT A RETRAINING ISSUE OR A “NEEDS A PARTNER TO SLOW HIM DOWN” ISSUE. THAT IS RIDICULOUS, A GROWN MAN THAT CAN’T CONTROL HIMSELF AROUND BARKING DOGS SHOULDN’T HAVE A JOB THAT LETS HIM CARRY A GUN!!! IF HE NEEDS SOMEONE ELSE TO MAKE DECISIONS OR HELP WITH HIS DECISIONS THEN HE IS NOT A MAN, HE’S A DAMN CHILD! THE LAST TIME I CHECKED IT’S A BAD IDEA TO LET A CHILD PLAY WITH LOADED FIREARMS! I’m tired of this give him the benefit of the doubt crap. I can’t believe these were even suggested! The fact that he went for his sidearm first isn’t just a little disturbing, it should terrify people.
He has severe self control issues. I just hope that next time it won’t be an innocent human being that rubs him the wrong way. I wonder if he’d try to justify it by saying he didn’t want to get bit again by a dog or a human? I also wonder how someone like him could pass the mental competency exams to become a “cop”? I’m sorry if this was a long post but this just struck a nerve and made me sick.
“The goddamn kid BARED HIS TEETH at me, Chief!
I would shoot a mutt if it was attacking me. There was no attack made by that poor pooch. Just another butthole cop on a power trip. Did any of you pay attention to the cop get in a good angle to shoot the dog. That was the officers intention all along. I have worked in public safety for 16 years as a FF/EMT and LE. I’ve only been charged by an aggressive dog once and retreated back to my unit. The officer had options. he chose the wrong one. Sounds like a police officer who drags his little nuts over the public he is supposed to protects heads.
Good shot. Don’t let your dogs run around in the street, and the police won’t have to shoot them when they become aggressive.
The title should read: “Irresponsible Dog Owner of the Day”
That dog wasn’t aggressive–he never attacked, despite being kicked, and repeatedly backed away. The pig was in no danger when he shot the dog, he just felt like asserting his power.
I think the variations of “The officer done wrong” in these comments are being used as a proxy for “I am a dog lover”, without bothering to consider whether it was actually a good shot.
I count 3, possibly 4 times in the video where the dead dog charges the officer – the last time when he finally takes a bullet.
I’m more concerned about the cops defaulting to lethal force. Pepper spray would certainly have been more appropriate.
Approaching is not charging.
The dog barked like dogs to to strangers until the officer kicked him which no doubt caused the dog to become pissed… But still no charge.
Bad shoot.
“Approaching is not charging.”
Try “approaching” a cop like that and let us know how it works out for you.
Yeah, the dog totally charged him 3 or 4 times, but somehow never touched him (except when the cop kicked him), let alone succeeded in biting him. Those dogs were not a threat to the officer.
I am not a dog lover. Or hater. The officer effed the eff up.
What I meant was he had plenty of opportunity to deploy pepper spray, but opted not to.
I assume by “charges the officer” you mean “jumps up and down, barking excitedly, wagging his tail”. Everybody knows that when dogs are at their most dangerous. The officer was in imminent danger of getting his butt sniffed.
But I will agree the dog owner deserves IPOotD award for having unleashed, unfenced dogs.
Funny, I saw the overpaid government employee charging the dog. He should have retreated and called animal control.
“Try “approaching” a cop like that and let us know how it works out for you.”
Since a cop has not power or authority that a citizen does not have, are you saying citizens have the right to shoot cops who aggressively invade our personal space?
And yet, somehow, some way, how many thousands of cable guys, water guys, gas guys, dish guys, pizza guys, Fedex/UPS guys, postal guys, and a zillion other unfamiliar people deal with strange dogs every day with mild or no force, certainly not deadly force. But when it comes to the police, it’s guns blazing because, well, who’s going to hold them accountable?
…the dog did what dogs are supposed to do when strangers enter their property…the cop shot the dog on the owner’s property…not in the street…the cop was sent out to manage the situation..and his first and only planned response was to shoot the dog..for which he later apologized multiple times.. …which tells me he knew he was in the wrong…otherwise…why be such an apologist for his own actions?
You sound like a blank-minded cop supporter who would justify raping the dog…if the cop could come up with a stupid enough sounding justification…
As I said earlier…I hope a year from now they find that cop…sitting up in his urine, blood-drenched car..after he’d blown his own head off….that would be great Karma…
RJ O’Guillory
Author-
Webster Groves – The Life of an Insane Family
It’s a shame when a dog is shot, but the owner is mostly at fault. WHY were the dogs running loose?
To someone who said that cops don’t shoot dogs that are fenced up – that’s a lie. Happens all the time.
On the other hand, there were a lot of other ways the cop could have handled this. He could have beeped the horn or blipped the siren to get the home owner’s attention. He certainly didn’t have to kick at the dog. He could have called animal control to come out and pick the dogs up,a nd then cited their owner for allowing them to run loose.
One more time: IT’S A TOWN OF 2500 PEOPLE.
The “officer” (I used quotation marks because this gentleman is apparently incapable of officiating) responded to a call about dogs in the street.
Who sends a patrol officer to an animal control call?
Also, weapons are supposed to be a last line of defense. Maybe these are some of those warp-through-car-door dogs…I don’t know.
Gone are the days of “get home safe, no matter what”. Now the mentality is, “there’s a perp here that needs a head smash, no matter what, and I’ll shoot dogs to get to the scumbag”.
The police have to go to these calls because the taxpayers don’t want to pay the taxes for animal control to have the manpower to respond.
Weapons are a last resort when it comes to humans. Not dogs. Sorry, PETA can go to hell and if I’m hiking and some dog comes at me four times I’m not going to be fumbling for pepper spray.
If you aren’t hiking in the dog owners front yard I’m with you. In this case, as the video shows, the officer attacked the dog, not the other way around. There was nothing aggressive about either dogs behavior and in fact they appeared to be happy and excited to see a new person. In no world was that a good shoot.
Compare the average wages and benefits of the “public servants” in your city to the people paying the taxes for those salaries. Should the “servant” have better pay and better benefits than the people paying the wages? There is plenty of money for a dog catcher if the pay grades were equal to the people paying for the wages and benefits. I don’t know of a single person in the private sector that still receives a pension or any health care after they retire. 401k with a 5% match is the best available here. New city employees receive 17% contribution to their 401K with no match and paychecks quite a bit above the average resident in this city.
If you’re hiking? Straw Man much?
“Who sends a patrol officer to an animal control call?”
Most places. In my county we have a dog warden and an assistant dog warden. That is two people for an entire county.
Then sit in the car and wait for one to free up.
Small town; no animal control officer, no vice-mayor anything non-essential.
I take it you’ve never been near a dog. That dog’s tail was wagging and it was jumping around. That means playful behavior. The only aggressive behavior in that video was displayed by the cop.
Myth, dogs often wag their tails when they are not in a happy or playful mood. You have to look for other signs like vocalization, raised hackles and how they show their teeth. Generally, if a dog is barking it won’t bite but if it shuts up then it may be about to attack you.
“Myth, dogs often wag their tails when they are not in a happy or playful mood.”
Bull. You clearly know nothing about dogs. I’ve spent my entire life around them and bitten by several – an angry or scared dog does NOT wag their tail. Those dogs were excited, nothing more – they weren’t violent in any way.
Yeah? I have had dogs all my life. Right now I have two coonhounds. In fact I just got back from a walk through the park where there are deer, coon, possum, fox and possibly coyote. The dogs tails were wagging all the time as the howled their through the wooded areas. They weren’t playing, they were all business. If I let them go they would have run something down and killed it. Dogs wag their tails when they are excited whether they want to play, work or show a aggression.
Absolutely correct. The difference here is the type of wag. Dogs that are ready to challenge something don’t bark like that, and their tails wag straight up and stiffly back and forth- NOT happy-whole-butt-waggle wagging. And if you watch the black dog, he backs up repeatedly onto his property, and looks at the front door continually while he barks and retreats. The OFFICER is the reason the dogs were barking in a FEARFUL manner. Aggression and fear are completely different. he was screaming at those dogs the second he exited his vehicle, and he continued to scream-GUN DRAWN- while kicking and advancing toward them. Anyone with half a brain wouldn’t have continued to approach dogs they didn’t understand. If he was really “afraid” he could have gotten back into his vehicle. Instead he had to prove how tough and “manly” he was by shooting a family pet on it’s property while a house full of children were inside. Pepper Spray/Tazer/Calling the owner- Options an every day person would consider when approaching a barking BLACK LAB. That do did NOT charge him. He did NOT try to bite him. The officer advanced toward him and shot him point blank in the head without hesitation in a residential neighborhood. Safety is supposed to be the priority, and in a neighborhood full of families its hard to believe this was the safe or right thing to do.
Did you miss the part where he actively tried to kick the dog in the head? And how the dog DIDN’T try to bite him at that point or immediately afterward? I’m not going to say that the dog’s were happy, they weren’t. They were on alert. But at no point in that video did they even try to bite. Officers carry all sorts of non-lethal options, there was absolutely no reason to shoot. If this guy keeps his badge it will be a travesty.
That being said, dog owners, invest in a fence. The fact that this is clearly a bad shoot won’t bring this guy’s dog back. If the dog had been in a fenced-in yard this whole thing could have been avoided. Whether it’s someone getting trigger happy or just a car, you’re playing roulette with your dog’s life if you let them run around the neighborhood unsupervised.
“Officers carry all sorts of non-lethal options, there was absolutely no reason to shoot.”
The officer DID use a non-lethal option (his boot) and the dog didn’t back off. Good shoot, bad dog owner.
Pepper spray is taught as an effective option. Kicks to the head are not. This is probably the stupidest most impatient and unnecessary dog shoot I’ve seen on the net. The home has a telephone. The LEO has a phone. Call the owner. Pepper spray the dog. It wasn’t a felony call. Why the rush?
I’m staggered by the extent to which LEO’s in many areas apparently think that community relations do not matter, are not worth the extra effort. It surprises me. It isn’t true where I live.
nnjj: You must be the officer in the video because you’re the only one that has said it was a good shoot, and you’ve said it multiple times. Only he would defend that action. Here’s a quick tip, cars are impervious to dog bites if he really feared for his safety.
I know it’s a small town, but why send an officer with a past incident with a dog that left him scarred and fearful on a dog call? That’s like backing a politician that was a victim of gun crime on gun control.
So the stupid idiot LEO cant take 10 F’ing seconds to radio in and tell them to call the house to call the dogs in. What a F’ing moron.
nnjj – After reading your several posts, I finally realized you’re this cops big brother. (Maybe uncle?) Either way – you refuse to see the obvious. This cop is a cowardly ass.
Would you become aggressive if I kicked you? How about if I kick you twice?
Am I a dog? If so I better stop coming at you after the first kick.
No length too far to go to excuse rogue cop behavior. Are you one?
I have never seen a cop who was worth as much as a dog.
For once I almost agree with Chris.
whats good for the goose is good for the gander… we should ALL be allowed to solve our nonviolent moments of the day with our weapon.. ( sarcasm )
How is it a “good shoot”? What do you see there that makes it a “good shoot”?
Tell you what I see–a fat ass cop who had a ga-zillion other options than to shoot what was OBVIOUSLY a non-threatening dog.
that dog wasn’t attacking him he just wanted to shoot something he might be a sociopath
Nothing wrong here, other than an irresponsible dog owner. Agressive dog wandering around the streets come charging up to me, and I’ll shoot it too. Calling the cop a pantywaste? You let a stray dog gnaw on you tough guy!
The dog repeatedly backed away from the pig and never attacked him, despite being kicked.
“repeatedly backed away” because he repeatedly approached. There are some dogs that can run around because they wouldn’t hurt a fly (I’ve been lucky to always have such a dog). If your dog is territorial you need to keep him on your property.
How many “bad cop no donut” bumper stickers do you have on your Durango?
Yea, I called him a pantywaist. There’s a big difference between a truly mean and aggresive dog and a dog thats watching his turf. The so called officer is a giant sissy. And they are not “stray dogs” as you so incorrectly ascertained. He had his gun out the instant he stepped out of the car. OMG! A dog! He is not a dog person. He’s a frightened man-boy. If this is truly the case, we should be arming every postal carrier in the country! Christ, if i shot every dog that barked at me, i’d be in prison. And discharging his weapon in a residential neighborhood? If you did the exact same thing, your ass would be in the county lock up. So yea, he is a pantywaist. And I have been bitten and i didn’t shoot the dog…
The cop has an Arabic name, so he probably has a built in cultural hatred of dogs.
Yet another failure of our immigration system.
His words, “I like dogs, I have dogs,” would tend to belie your bullshit racist comment.
The second sentence makes your response more or less appropriate. The first, not so much.
It’s not racist to state the FACT that Arab cultures have a low opinion of dogs.
Is also not known if the statement “I like dogs, I have dogs” is indeed true. If I was the homeowner I’d be checking on that statement and all crying and whining statements the LEO said.
I think the LEO needs someone to hold his hand on future calls.
Sorry, that doesn’t wash with me. Maybe it’s because I have knowledge of Mallory’s comment history, but regardless of the fact that those attitudes toward dogs exist (if they actually do), assuming that the cop holds those attitudes is a leap that I’m not willing to make, and he clearly is. It’s no different than me assuming that he {insert stereotype about English people here} simply because he has an English last name.
And it was nowhere stated that the officer in question was Muslim, even if it may have been implied. It wasn’t; it was inferred by Mallory.
…… {insert stereotype about English people here} simply because he has an English last name.
I’d wager that 95% of stereotypes are based on facts.
Low opinion of dogs by vast majority of Arabs happens to be a fact.
I’m not arguing stereotypes, I’m arguing its application in this case by Mallory. Again, that’s likely because I’m aware of his general attitudes via his commenting history, thus I feel comfortable in drawing conclusions of the spirit in which his observation is offered.
It did look to me like a pair of labs wagging their tails and saying “this is my yard.” Is there anyone in suburbia who doesn’t know what a Labrador Retriever looks like? What a wagging high tail means?
It seems like lots of PD’s really don’t like the people they work for, and don’t need to pretend otherwise. I suspect this is because those on the commission appointing and supervising LEO’s in those towns don’t respect the people they work for, either. Do they actually teach kicking the dog a few times if one is afraid of it? That makes no sense.
I don’t understand why so many PD’s are so much different than my local PD. I’m repeatedly shocked by what I see on the web from other PD’s. Why such callousness? Are the working conditions that much worse elsewhere? Is the supervision that much worse?
I visit people’s houses for a living, and I can tell you right now that Cop is incredibly STUPID.
First, if there are dogs running loose, I don’t even get out of my van. I look up the customer’s number and call the house and make them put the dogs up.
Second, if for some reason I *have* to get out of my van anyway, I carry a bottle of Pepper Spray (Most dogs really, REALLY hate that stuff.) and I don’t make any threatening noises or gestures. Calm demeanor and nonthreatening body language. Pepper spray then used if the dogs continue their aggression. Speak softly and carry a big stick.
Should the owner have kept the dogs fenced in? Yes.
Did the LEO need to shoot the dogs? No.
The dogs WERE agitated, They WERE being territorial – but the LEO did not need to shoot them. Non lethal options were available, and more importantly his actions showed a disregard for life and a lack of simple problem solving skills.
@ BT, he was not a stray! he was a service animal. to an owner who is in a wheelchair. the call was from a neighbor saying ‘there are dogs in the street’ clearly a non threat. dog owner has a birthday party, any one of the kids friends could have let the dog out. clearly this was no more than a nuisance, not a threat. he should have cited the owner with a ticket /fine and have him call the dogs in. also this officer was involved in a questionable use of lethal force on a person in 2010. shooting a man in the head. why would it be so unheard of to put this officer on mental eval. it seems the LEO lacks proper assessment skills. mistakes like this are mistakes that have consequences for someone in this profession, clearly he has not the capacity to be in law enf. and if i lived in filer and he still had his job after all this i would move and take my pets and kids with me.
I was impressed by the restraint the dogs were showing given his aggressive behavior towards them.
I’ve nearly done the same thing, from far away the golden retriever probably looked like it was calming down after I kicked it in the head and drove it away from my Down syndrome brother, it was just trying to stare me down and decide whether to attack again.
Keep your dogs fenced in or their deaths are on your head. I WILL NOT hesitate and watch a family member (or myself) be mauled.
Because a golden retriever is soooooo similiar to a pack of wild wolves….
Actually the same instinct set drives a wolf and dog, but most owners have driven their dogs insane via unknowing mistreatment of a dog.
Any dog can bite at ANY moment.
Tail wagging doesn’t mean shit. Any dog has the potential to turn aggreasive in instant.
Talk tobpostal carriers about how much they trust a “friendly” dog.
An animal that size could causebsignificant damage in seconds.
I think your issue is attributing human logic and reasoning to an instinct driven animal.
Funny, those mailmen, pizza delivery guys, and meter readers go years without shooting dogs. I guess they are better trained than the average cop.
” Any dog has the potential to turn aggreasive in instant.”
Dogs generally only turn “aggreasive” after boiling them for quite a while.
So with that logic, men should club their wives and run around naked? Because evolution says we came from primitive primates, so…. Dogs and wolves are distantly related- FACT. Domesticated dogs are NOT the same as a wolf. Dogs have a prey drive that, if not controlled, can lead to killing small animals, etc; but that does not mean they hunt and kill their own food and kill ppl. Look up the study on domesticated foxes- You will see that domestication is basically forced evolution, and certain breeds are more domesticated that other. My Sberian for instance kills raccoons, squirrels, etc. But a lab is bred to soft-mouth foul it RETREIVES. The only things they typically have a prey drive for is a stick or a ball. As a trainer, I have been bit 3 times in my line of work, and EVERY time it was MY fault, not the dog’s. Your comment shows the knowledge you have of the species in a whole. Anyone who actually knows anything about dogs can see clearly and without doubt that this entire situation was cause by that officer. He challenged and attacked THEM from the moment he exited his vehicle. He was threatening and cornering them on THEIR property. The dogs were retreating, and their body language clearly shows fear and agitation, not dominance and aggression. Sad so many that comment cant tell the difference between the two. Especially disappointing that the officer couldn’t.
You own a killer fox? Please post videos.
You idiot! Yeah, my wife was attacked by a golden retriever and she had to beat it away from our 1 year old son.
It’s time to reevaluate what an animal is capable of …..
Funny how your wife was able to bare-handedly defend herself and your son, but the only available defense that this cop could come up with was deadly force.
That incident is THE reason she now references for wanting to carry a pistol. Had she been carrying she would have GLADLY shot that dog. I would have, too.
Unashamedly so.
Sounds like you’d both make good LEOs.
I’m guessing he carries pepper spray… why not reach for that?
Did you not see the weapon-mounted light? No pepper spray needed. Because OPERATOR, that’s why.
…aside from the Pepper Spray…I just bought my wife a couple of “Tazers”…to have available in the car and throughout the house if needed…the first time she “activated” the Tazer….all of our dogs (including a pit-bull) went bat-shit and couldn’t stand the sound of the Tazer being activated….they all ran away with their tail between their legs as they really didn’t like the effect of the electricity….so there was no shooting necessary…the cop just wanted to be a big-man…I hope he chokes on the barrel of his own weapon…
RJ O’Guillory
Author-
Webster Groves – The Life of an Insane Family
Yah, is this 911?
Yes sir what’s the problem?
I just shot a man dressed like a cop that came on my property with his gun drawn.
I was in fear for my life as he just shot my dog and was coming to my door with his gun still drawn. He had a crazy dog killing look in his eye!
Let’s see it, tough guy.
I would vote “Not Guilty”.
And I’d be the 2nd vote…and I don’t like dogs.
Stop watching 30 episodes of Cops everyday
Ha ha
I agree with him. If a cop or anyone else shot my dog they would not be leaving my property. Regardless of legal fallout
That’s what pepper spray is for. You shoot my dog on my property, I shoot you.
I’d vote to acquit. The only violent, aggressive being there was the cop, who was out of control and could easily have started shooting people as well as the dog. Based on that video the homeowner could reasonably have been in fear of his life.
Usually it won’t make it to a jury.
Hassani also wins, “Mental Midget of the Day” award.
Sad, but scary, too.
They need to get this guy a post in Sochi, STAT. He gets to shoot dogs for a living, we get rid of a menace to society. Win for everyone.
Monday morning quarterbacking: Cop didn’t need to shoot that dog.
That said, No way should a dog that behaves like that (barking/defending its territory) be allowed to run loose in the city. It is behaving like a lot of dogs do which is okay…..on a leash. Some dogs are not territorial at all and make better “free ranging” dogs.
Stupid cop and stupid dog owner. More like Idiot Social Interaction Of The Day.
Clearly you have no clue about Filer, ID. calling it a city. By your reasoning all the dogs that wander the farm land there should be put to death. You need to turn in your keyboard.
In the farmlands in WV it was legal to kill dogs wandering the countryside. They injure and kill livestock and in the case of the couple in Goergia they kill people. In the 1 incident where I killed a dog he was part of a pack wandering the farmlands. No doubt some irresponsible owners much beloved pet. Because of his aggression and his pack mates aggression he didn’t get kicked, he got shot thru the head.
To this day I hate doing it. But I’ve seen what those wandering pets do to livestock and deer. I’m not going to be dog food.
The dogs I was referring to are farm dogs. Like Heelers. Since most farms in that area don’t have fences for steer.
My wife is from Northern Wisconsin and she said the same rules apply there. Even a friendly dog can run valuable livestock to their deaths. If you are using dogs to hunt on private land you tell the land owner that you have talks when you ask his permission.
I have no problem with people shooting feral animals causing harm to their property or other people.
Doesn’t work in this case, however.
These dogs were being aggressive defenders of their owners’ property. They were in the wrong because they’re dumb animals and their owners are complete idiots (if they consciously let them out).
Since they weren’t actively harming anyone’s property or people, effective less than lethal tools should’ve been employed first.
Jumping to lethal force in this situation made absolutely zero sense and was uncalled for.
Heelers,eh? I dunno if they’re the breed you’re talking about, but I have a longstanding hatred of Blue Heelers. Almost every one of those things I’ve met has been an overly aggressive nuisance. A couple/three of them actually wanted killing, but I didn’t have the means back then. Fortunately I had a loyal German Shepherd/St. Bernard mix who, despite being the gentlest dog ever, was more than willing to teach them the error of their ways (took on two of them at once in an epic canine beatdown…one of my most cherished childhood memories).
Could have been the environment and their training (or lack of it), not their basic nature…I dunno. I do know that 35 years later in the same locale, my dad goes on his daily morning run armed with a pocketful of rocks and a stout stick to deal with the descendants of those same antisocial beasts.
And the people who own those aggressive animals also (still) think it’s their right to kill any animal they want anywhere they are for any reason (or none). Sometimes it has to be done. In my experience, it usually is done by people who didn’t have to do it, they just wanted to.
My friend father has 30 acres that unfortunately back up to a white trash trailer park. A couple times a year he has to shoot these dumb fuckers loose dogs on his property; most have have been pitbuls.
“No way should a dog that behaves like that (barking/defending its territory) be allowed to run loose in the city.”
Filer, ID: Pop. 2,508. No city there, pal. Only a friendly little town with a dog-killing cop.
You’ve pointed out the size of the town a couple of times WB. In this small town it says a lot that the neighbers felt compelled to call the cops on these lose dogs that they should have known well. Maybe they knew them well enough to fear them?
…no matter what any of the cop-defenders write, say..or argue…we know the Cop was wrong.. because he apologized to the home owner…(several times)….as the Attorney for the homeowner is going to ask in Court….”Officer…if your actions were appropriate…why did you apologize so profusely?” …Again…”Officer, if your actions were correct…why did you feel the need to apologize?”…
…one of the first things they teach you in business…(and bad government is simply business)…never say you are sorry, never apologize…as you have just admitted to having done something “wrong”… and eventually a good Attorney will make you pay for that admission….so regardless of all the back-n-forth here…we all know the cop was wrong…because he admitted to it…on tape…Ha!
If I was on the jury…the compensation for this “wrongful act”..would be in the millions …against the cop, the city and the county that lets him carry a gun….because by the man;s own admission..he was under-trained, incompetent..and he was “wrong” as he admitted several times…
RJ O’Guillory
Author-
Webster Groves – The Life of an Insane Family
You know, mailmen get around just fine with pepper spray.
And how often are we told that bear spray is more effective against large four legged predators than guns?
If you’re a cop and you have pepper spray but automatically resort to using a gun on a non-rabid dog that’s not actively attacking you or someone else, you need to find a new line of work.
Or go to work for the po-po in Baghdad.
BS. http://www.infoplease.com/us/government/postal-worker-dog-bites.html
I’ve seen dogbites. You don’t want your dog to get shot, keep him enclosed or get the kind of dog that doesn’t act territorial.
BS. http://www.infoplease.com/us/government/postal-worker-dog-bites.html
I’ve seen dogbites. You don’t want your dog to get shot, keep him enclosed or get the kind of dog that doesn’t act territorial.
Having a weapon or the option to carry one is no guarantee you’ll always avoid getting attacked, so I really don’t know what the point of you bringing those statistics up is.
It says nothing about the effectiveness of the judicious use of pepper spray on aggressive dogs that haven’t attacked yet.
It’s disturbing that you seem so eager to shoot people’s animals.
Aren’t you a cop?
He is a wanna be cop
I hate what happens in this video with every fiber of my being. But having watched the whole thing (listened), and taking a minute to chill out, as much as I still hate it… this was a shitty situation, and I think he was basically justified. It sucks, but life sucks sometimes.
He wasn’t justified if he had pepper spray he could’ve deployed, IMO.
He needs to be held to the same standards as mailmen. If they can deal with aggressive dogs with just pepper spray, so can he.
I agree, mailmen should be allowed to carry firearms to prevent the hundreds that get bit every year.
A weapon doesn’t prevent attacks all the time every time, so Hannibal concludes that the only appropriate way to deal with an aggressive dog is to shoot it.
Brilliant.
That said, I’d agree with Proverbs upthread who said that the cop wins “mental midget of the day.” His repeated mantra of “I’m not going to get bit again” makes me think it’s only a matter of time until he shoots a dog in a situation that is much more clear-cut wrong than this.
Funny, Matt… the mailman never shot him.
At any point before he shot the dog how long would it have taken him to walk back to his car?
But no, the perp with a brain the size of a walnut wasn’t responding to his supreme authority. His manhood was somehow challenged by a dog.
you people are delusional. this is a guy just trying to do his job. he was called there to get the dog owner to wrangle in his mutts. and he has to have dogs circling him and barking at him just to get to the door. have YOU been bit? it’s not worth the hassle of risking it. are you going to wait to draw your gun if someone is circling you with a knife threatening you?
Dogs carry knives now?
have you used pepper spray? atomizing a powerful irritant near an animal that is being aggressive May easily leave you blind and short of breathe. makes a bad situation worse. I guess you’d have to be chased down and attacked by dogs that aren’t controlled to understand. just like many new gun owners needed to be beaten nearly to death, mugged, or raped to decide arming yourself can prevent it from happening again.
You’re not fooling ME. It comes out in a STREAM, not as a spray. If cops were pepper-spraying themselves the way you suggest, there’d be a record of it.
FAIL.
it’s happened to me. the one time I used pepper spray. when, you ask? while I was being attacked by a group of neighborhood dogs. a windy day while walking home from school when I was a kid. I come from a family of law enforcement. many cops who are family friends have been incapacitated while using pepper spray on unarmed aggressors. like I said, your opinion won’t change until you’re in the situation. you think you know how you’d react from a 3rd person perspective. if you own dogs and let them run wild everyone else has to deal with them. they may be friendly to you as their owner, but that doesn’t excuse putting other people in harms way. I haven’t shot a dog and I wouldn’t take it lightly. in this case watching those dogs lunge towards him as he tries to get to the door, I can’t say I blame him. could it have been avoided? yes. was it worth the trouble to resolve the situation without shooting the dog? doubt it. the owner blatantly has a lot of dogs and neglects them. you can’t reason with an aggressive dog. it’s not phased by the sight of a firearm. I’d prefer to shot the ground near the dog to scare it, but I don’t make the rules.
Oh, come on. Pepper spray doesn’t completely incapacitate someone who is ready for it. It will sure as heck make the dog run away, though. If you get a whiff on yourself, you should have enough intestinal fortitude to bear it while watching Fido squeal. But I guess a man that likes to shoot dogs wouldn’t have that intestinal fortitude, either.
I was tear-gassed during the anti-Vietnam demonstration days. I think it helps. You at least are prepared if it happens again – you know you get through it in fairly short order. Not pleasant, though.
That dog was not the animal equivalent of a knife packing thug.
For one, many pets WILL display hostile behavior to strangers. That’s just their natures as animals. My neighbor’s cat will hiss at anyone she first meets no matter what. After the kitty gets to know you for a moment, the hostility fades. Is that grounds to ventilate the poor animal?
Two: holster the damn gun. Seriously, what was the point of aiming the weapon at the animal? Did the officer assume the dog would think “shit, that’s a Glock, id best shut up and ask for my attorney?”
Three: I believe officers should be trained at the academy in animal body language and recognition. Even if a LEO never serves a day in Animal Control, they need to know the difference between a dog being defensive and a dog actually trying to hurt them. This nonsense of LEOs popping a dog as soon as it growls has to stop.
They don’t even have to be trained in reading animal body language.
When in doubt, spray the ****ing thing. It’s not going to kill it but it is likely to adjust its attitude.
Exactly. A little pepper spray would have solved the problem. Less paperwork too.
Yup.
Did you miss the part where he actively tried to kick the dog in the head? And how the dog DIDN’T try to bite him at that point or immediately afterward? I’m not going to say that the dog’s were happy, they weren’t. They were on alert. But at no point in that video did they even try to bite. Officers carry all sorts of non-lethal options, there was absolutely no reason to shoot. If this guy keeps his badge it will be a travesty. Options he could have exercised for what appears to be a noise complaint:
1) Pepper spray. We use pepper spray to fend off BEAR attacks. You think Fido is going to stick around?
2) Taser
3) Baton
4) WAIT. Get animal control or figure out how to get control of the dogs BEFORE you get out of the car.
5) Use car horn or bullhorn to alert homeowner and get them to control their dog.
This was in no way a good shoot. The guy was pissed off before he even got out of the car.
That being said, dog owners, invest in a fence. The fact that this is a bad shoot won’t bring this guy’s dog back. If the dog had been in a fenced-in yard this whole thing could have been avoided. Whether it’s someone getting trigger happy or just a car, you’re playing roulette with your dog’s life if you let them run around the neighborhood unsupervised. Eventually something bad is going to happen.
And yes, I have been bitten by dogs.
The dogs were running wild and the shooting could be seen as justified once he was out of the car, however the cop could have stayed in the car and called for animal control, retreated to his car if he felt they were dangerous, or conversely, he could have TASED it or pepper sprayed it instead of deadly force. At least he didnt go inside the house and shoot the guys kid, google BRYON VASSEY NC for that one.
Sorry, no. Those dogs were not displaying any aggressive behavior at all. Jumping, tail-wagging and running in circles around a stranger is not aggressive behavior, it’s begging for attention. Those dogs weren’t attacking, they were hoping the cop would play with them. The only aggressive, mindless attack that happened was from the sociopath with the badge who’s scared of dogs. Effing coward.
Sorry, no to your no. The black dog was lunging forward very aggressively. The cop could have handled it better but only a blind or delusional person would not consider the black dog acting very aggressive. Watch the video closely and you can see the dog lunging towards the cop and showing his teeth as he edges towards the back of the parked SUV. A dog acting the same way on MY property would get the same 40SW treatment. However, the cop WAS entering the dog owners property and you can make the case the dog was defending the property. This situation could have been avoided by the cop getting on the loudspeaker and telling the homeowner to come out and restrain the animals, however that black dog was acting very aggressive and was running wild in the street, and it was a very large animal. At least the cop didnt shoot the homeowner too when he started getting loud. Calling 911 these days is like playing chicken with a log truck! Wake up people, for crying out loud.
See, here’s the problem. People who want to be mad go too far in the opposite direction. Yes, it appears he wasn’t being attacked, or even “about to be” attacked. But it’s also bullshit that they were
“hoping he would play with them.” They were acting territorial. He was walking onto their property and they were trying to warn him off. Now, had he continued up the driveway without shooting would he have been bitten? Most likely not. But don’t let your anger and emotion carry you away. He wasn’t being attacked, but their behavior was moderately aggressive. They were telling him, “This is my house, and I don’t want you here.”
That tape is pretty damning. The dog never lunged at him at all. They were doing the same thing my dogs do every day I get home. It was agressive at all. It was “OMG a human paying attention to me!” Those dogs left outside in the cold by their irresponsible owners are the real victims. That cop was never in any danger. And, yes, I have been bit. We routinely take in strays and fosters, and not all of them are well mannered.
Had that dog wanted to attack him, it would have. Most things that people see as “aggressive” in dogs isn’t really aggression. It’s just how they are. Aggressive dogs don’t give warnings. I know, I’ve fostered a few.
Yes, I have been bit. And I never shot but one dog, who someone convinced me to take, and got out and attacked every dog in the neighborhood, injuring some severely.
i have been bit. and have the scars to prove it. ya it sucked, but even now i wouldn’t have shot the dog that bit me. i sure wouldn’t have shot the dog in the video.
I’m sure that brave Officer Hassani will be given an award for his spectacular courage and a two month paid vacation to get over his severe emotional trauma.
Let this be a lesson to all of you — do NOT let your cops roam the streets without a leash.
All LEO are going feral. They are multiplying, becoming more aggressive and will not hesitate to attack domesticated animals or humans for that matter at the slightest provocation.
It does seem to be a trend, doesn’t it? If there some sort of top secret experiment drug cops are being given? I don’t believe so, but stranger things have turned out to be true.
They have GOT to take that “Always Shoot the Dog” paragraph out of the manual.
People like you, trying to convince cops to be anti-gun nut since the internet.
Disarming cops would be the best thing we could do to make America safer. Government employees should be out gunned by citizens.
Absolutely. This is as the Founding Fathers wanted things to be.
With all the money that police departments are getting everywhere from the seized assets of illegal activities to the auctions they do of unclaimed or buyback property, in addition to the equipment and help they are getting from the federal government and the military, WHY are they not being trained how to handle these type of situations better? The dog did NOT attack him, but he feared for his life so he killed it. Why not get back in the car and call for back up unless the dog actually was attacking someone? The call was for dogs in the street, not dogs attacking.
Because he didn’t have an MRAP?
Interesting editing on wikipedia if you look up “Filer, ID”…
Photograph of “Hooch”…
Curious how the line in the Wikipedia article says he shot a “service dog.”
In my experience, service dogs are almost completely unflappable. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one so much as bark at someone, much less act territorial. I call bullshit.
I don’t know what qualifies as a service animal in Florida but in Oregon the term service animal is interchangable with companion animal which can be pretty much any animal, trained or untrained, as long as it’s been authorized by a doctor. So you could conceivably get a service animal straight out of the county pound with no special training whatsoever.
Related note: There’s a WaWa (gas station with a sandwich shop inside) on the street in front of my apartment complex. It’s about a 1/3 mile walk up there, so a nice round trip for my dog and I. I walked up there with my dog late one night, and looped her leash around one of the stanchions out front while I walked in to order a sandwich. The cashier saw me looking outside at her (the dog) and told me that I could bring her inside next time, as long as she behaved.
Next time I was there (without the dog), I noticed a sticker on the door that “Service animals only.” I didn’t want to walk in there with my dog in the face of that sticker on just the word of a cashier, I found a manager and asked him. He said it was fine, and I pointed out the sticker. He said, “We’re not allowed to ask. If you walk in with your dog, as long as she behaves herself, nobody’s gonna say a word.”
Those WaWa stations are really freakin’ nice, aren’t they?
7-11 needs to step up their game.
Yeah, they are. I was born and raised in Florida, so WaWa is a new experience to me as of 2-3 years ago when they moved into town. I didn’t understand why my friends who are from (or have lived) up north were so excited when they saw them going in. I get it now. Their sandwiches aren’t the best I’ve ever had, but they’re solidly good, and inexpensive, and they’re running a 59-cent any-size-coffee deal most days. Oh, and they’re unfailingly friendly. Also, their gas is pretty much the cheapest in whatever neighborhood they’re in. The only thing cheaper than them near me is the Costco, and it’s usually only a penny. One penny more at the front of my apartment complex >>>>> one penny less 3.5 miles away.
I have had the pleasure of knowing members of the Wood family (Wawa). I can tell you they would not shoot your dogs.
Here is what I do not get about cops and situations like this. You are in your car, you have lots of sirens and probably a megaphone. You can get the whole neighborhoods attention. He could have called out of the megaphone to the owner of the house and requested assistance. Get the onwer to secure the dog should have been the first step.
Yeah, this is my thought as well. He may or may not have been in danger. That’s not clear to me, but what IS clear is that HE escalated the situation. Repeatedly…
Critical thinking and discretion isn’t their strong suit. They want to go balls to the wall maximum legally allowable force all the time.
Why, just imagine, a fellow officer might’ve laughed at him and called him a wuss if he called for back up or didn’t get out of his car and shoot the dogs.
That thought occurred to me as well. If you can’t approach the house, perhaps a good first step would have been to chirp the siren and get on the loudhailer.
And if you’re afraid of getting bitten by dogs wouldn’t that be a more logical option than getting out of the car in the first place?
Having dispatch call the people’s house mighta been a good idea, too.
I agree with both of those statements. I know I said upthread that it was sorta justified, but let me see if I can balance those two. I think I understand why he did what he did, but at the same time I don’t understand why he didn’t do what he didn’t do. Does that make sense?
I would file this under lack of training, I guess.
But that would be “friendly”; I can’t fathom this kind of behavior in such a tiny town.
Well, yeah, Officer Krupke could have taken a nonviolent path. But where’s the fun in that?
A-Rod,
The owner’s dogs were going apeshit in front of his home — barking loudly, snarling, and growling. Those were were not happy sounds and they were very loud. And the officer yells at the dogs several times. If the dog owner did not respond to that, I wouldn’t expect him to respond to a megaphone which isn’t as loud as barking dogs.
If my dogs were barking like that, I would be on high alert and immediately check to see why they were barking. The owner is 95% responsible for the outcome of that situation.
Furthermore, the dogs may have been doing the same to other neighbors who wanted to go somewhere for urgent reasons and could not safely get to their car parked in their driveway or the street. Why should the neighbors have to wait for 15+ minutes for the cop to use kid gloves on out of control dogs?
If the dog comes on your property acting like that, I’m perfectly fine with you shooting it.
But if you go on its owner’s property and it starts barking and growling at you, I’ve got a problem with you jumping right to lethal force (when you have other options available) when it hasn’t attacked you.
Keep your dogs locked up in the closet, or this is what happens!
This was an animal control call. You get a cop to do an animal control call and this is the kind of animal control you get.
While this is a very good point, and one that needs to be considered, Filer is about 2500 people, and probably doesn’t have an animal control officer. If they decide to hire one, it should not be Officer Hassani.
I wonder how Hassani ended up in Filer, Idaho?
Maybe there was no more room in Deerborn.
The dog was growling aggressively. One of mine does the same thing when she is playing. I know that but a cop wouldn’t. The more correct solution would have been pepper spray but I can’t say it was a bad shoot.
I can.
I’m a dog lover, and neither of those two breeds are known as attack dogs. But,
1. I would have kept my pistol drawn.
2. When pack animals are circling you, it doesn’t mean an imminent attack, but it doesn’t rule one it out. Watch wildlife videos, one will attack the hindquarters while one threatens from the front.
3. I don’t think it merited shooting the dog, but I blame the owner. If my dog somehow got out, I go get him. If I heard them out front, I would have opened my door and called them away from the officer. Looks to me like the coward home owner was hiding in his house hoping the cop would go away.
I can’t condemn the officer in this. Maybe not what I would have done, but I wouldn’t have hesitated if I felt the need.
He sounded a lot more apologetic than I expected.
I agree. He started off very hyper and was making the situation worse. But as soon as the homeowner came back he calmed himself and started to de-escalate the situation. Too many officers can’t do that.
I’m trying to figure out how unarmed dog catchers, with a fraction of the resources and a fraction of the training as the average LEO, can manage to make it through a single shift dealing with stray and feral animals with his throat in tact. And they do it all for less money than LEOs. At least RoboCop got home safe to his family.
Because all of their resources, experience and training is specialized in catching dogs. I thought that would be pretty obvious…
He wanted to kill the dog. That he found an excuse was just ancillary. Unions have turned cops into sissies. They do not deserve the mantle of bravery that is often wrapped around them.
It’s okay, Skyler. They’re shooting each other too.
Even if we ignore their sociopathic tendencies to kill animals, innocent people and grift off the public, police greatly inflate the “danger” they face in the “line of duty.”
Garbage collectors die in greater numbers on the job than cops. Fishermen, loggers, farmers, ranchers, miners & mining machine operators, etc – all die in greater rates than cops.
And none of them get a big taxpayer-funded send-off for their funeral, none of them get the pomp and circumstance that cops claim they deserve. Nope, it’s just “back to work” for these private-sector stiffs who just buried a co-worker, because know what? Taxes gotta be paid to keep the public servants from getting cranky when the donuts don’t arrive at the station on time.
None of the occupations you mentioned contribute to public safety in anyway shape or form, so your point is moot.
Let me see if I got the point of this, if there actually is one. You are contending only the on-the-job fatalities of COPS should be counted as “on the job fatalities”, because they “contribute to public safety?
WTFH?
OK, Scooter. Let’s see the farmers and ranchers sit down on the job.
See how the populace responds then and tell me your theory again.
I haven’t known a cop in ten years that has taken any action for MY safety. They are always quick to disarm me during a traffic stop for THEIR safety, however…
The dog’s owner is an ass for not keeping his dogs inside his home or fenced in and should be cited for that. That said, once this cop encountered the aggressive dog he had non-lethal options. If he carried pepper spray or a taser (I couldn’t tell), either one would’ve gotten the dog under control. Or he could’ve retreated back to his car and called for animal control, or asked dispatch to attempt to reach the homeowner by phone. Instead of thinking the problem through he reacted with the worst possible option, which would’ve been justified had the dog actually bitten him, but that wasn’t the case. It looks like someone needs more training.
It’s a tiny town. No one should be unaccustomed to people’s dogs hanging around their owner’s yard.
The dogs were excited by his overwhelming stench of fear.
Best comment yet.
Appare
ntly “Hooch” was a service dog…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_dog
What was his service? Collecting bullets?
Too soon?
Tasers are amazing effective against dogs. It’s so much the case that both service dogs and K9 units typically must be retired if they have hit with a stun-gun or taser even once. This was relayed to me by trainer of guard dogs who works with the local Sheriff’s department.
If you look around YouTube, you can find one or two videos of vicious, feral dogs actively attacking – not simply barking and posturing – being hit with tasers whelping away like licked puppies.
Here’s one example, and a better bit of police work as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Itfr_V424
Seriously? What a pu$$y, cops should be treated the same as citizens shooting dogs. They should at least have rules of escalation where something like pepper spray or a hand taser must be used before shooting a dog. That dog wasn’t even that aggressive.
A pitiful display. I have the utmost respect for LEO’s, but in this instance, pepper spray would have been adequate.
http://magicvalley.com/news/local/twin-falls/filer-officer-cleared-in-may-shooting/article_7e0d52a0-468e-586e-b8b2-f6c61ab81c2e.html
Filer must be a dangerous place. This is his second time to fire his weapon in the line of duty in four years.
The last time I was in Filner, I was passing through, looking at farm equipment.
You could set up a formal tea ceremony in the middle of their main street and not worry about being hit or even having your hair flapped.
According the description of his other shooting, he fired because he couldn’t see through the window tint. Sounds like he’s got a bit of an itchy trigger finger.
When you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. Especially in Bumphukt, Idaho. Go home and hide under the bed, Barney.
I feel compelled to point out that had a non-sancified person acted the same way towards an “attacking” police dog, he’d be in serioulsy felonious trouble.
I don’t think this video is appropriate for this site. The video is not about the truth, guns or the truth about guns. It’s about a police officer who decided to shoot a dog while in the line of duty.
The video is perfect for LiveLeak. Not so much for our beloved TTAG.
Elements of TTAG are so anti-cop that they’ll post a video of a cop who shoplifted. This is actually at least somewhat related to guns in that one was fired.
I hear the sound of lips to @ss.
The anti-gun philosophy is guns are so dangerous only cops should have them. TTAG makes a point to highlight that cops make bad decisions too. I would suggest it’s anti-elitism, not anti-cop.
I’m one of the first to take TTAG’s anti-cop streak with a grain of salt, but this is also a lively back-and-forth discussion on when the use deadly force is/is not appropriate.
I love dogs and have a breed with a reputation for biting people. And I am all over my dog like a cheap suit to make sure it is never a menace to anyone in the neighborhood. I work hard to socialize it and train it to be friendly. I also make sure it never roams unrestrained. And when it is outside on a cable, I always check to see what is going on if it starts barking anything like the way those dogs were barking. That is what responsible dog ownership is. The owner of those dogs failed in epic fashion.
Those dogs were aggressive, out of control, and outside of the owner’s property. When the police officer drove up and parked in the street, the dogs were out in the middle of the street growling, snarling, and barking loudly at the cops car door before he even got out of the car. Those dogs were a menace to the neighborhood, period. The dog owners are completely responsible for their dogs and totally failed as both responsible pet owners and good neighbors. And why do you think the neighbors called the police in the first place?
I might see things differently if those dogs were standing at the front door of their home and barking, but they were in the middle of the street! And what was the owner doing all that time while his dogs were going apeshit outside and an unknown person was yelling at his dogs?
I will say that I think the officer should have tried pepper spray first. I would have had pepper spray in one hand and a handgun in the other hand. However, I don’t know if the weather conditions (especially if it was windy) was conducive for using pepper spray. And I sure as hell would not risk getting pepper spray in my eyes or inhaling it because someone refuses to be responsible for their dogs.
The owner was being irresponsible, no question. The issue is the conduct of the officer in dealing with the situation. Just because the owner did something stupid doesn’t give the officer the right to blow his dog away. A truly aggressive dog would have bit him after he tried to kick it, probably even before that. It would also not be backing away like it did. What is on that tape is an alerting, defensive dog. The officer had options and chose not to use them, instead choosing to kill a family pet and display an incredibly cavalier attitude toward firing his weapon. I don’t know about you, but if I were being legitimately threatened by someone or something, you better believe I would have both hands on my gun unless there was an immediate need for my off hand to be doing something else.
Just say it: pit bull.
I’m thinking the dog owner sees the cop approaching and is then getting busy flushing his sh!t.
Read the story. THERE. WAS. A. CHILD’S. BIRTHDAY. PARTY.
You know I thought as gun owners we believe in personal responsibility first and foremost. I don’t see what this cop did wrong. The dog owner is 100% to blame. Why was his dog running wild? I honestly don’t know much about dogs. If I had been in a similar situation I couldn’t say I wouldn’t have done the same. And to all the pepper spray comments come on guys what is up with that? So why don’t we just listen to the antis and carry pepper spray instead of a gun? What if spraying the dog only made things worse?
The officer felt threatened. He did not want to get bit and it is his right not to have to spend the night at the ER. The dog should have never been running around like that pure and simple. Not everything a cop does is wrong just because he is a cop. Don’t be hypocrites.
A dog-bite to the hand is often a career-ending injury. Screw pepper spray.
Yup. Kill ’em all. Dogs, people, it doesn’t matter. And the ones they don’t kill they can sodomize with a plunger handle.
Meanwhile, the Feds — the beloved Feds! — are monitoring the police departments by court order in every major city in America.
Or force a person into a hospital for a forcibly administered colonoscopy, which the victim then must pay for when it showed no evidence of contraband.
Gotta keep up with the times, Ralph. That plunger tactic is so yesterday. The new, sensitive police want it done all high-tech like.
Saves you from having to fake a back injury like most cops do.
If anyone wants to say that TTAG is, institutionally, anti-cop, I’d like you to compare anything RF or Dan have ever written with well, most anything Chris Mallory has ever written. It helps to have a comparison to know what “anti-cop” actually is.
NB: To be fair, he seems to have a dislike of virtually any and every government employee, but he reserves special amounts of vitriol for cops.
Yeah, it seems like the cop put himself in this situation instead of using his megaphone to call out the owner. Not to mention the dog wasn’t actually attacking him, just doing what dogs do when you get near. If it had wanted to attack him it would have already done it.
And even if it had been fenced in, the cop had to get to the front door which means he would have opened the gate to get to the door and shot the dog anyway. Bad shoot IMO.
One day a cop is going to get shot for doing something like this and they’re going to deserve it. This is the same kind of cop we seeing going to guns for other stupid matters/using excessive force. Those cops in the Dorner incident shooting up the paper delivery people in the wrong colour truck for example.
“Not to mention the dog wasn’t actually attacking him, just doing what dogs do when you get near.”
Wrong. Dogs have different kinds of vocalizations. A properly trained dog would have been near the front door and used the “alarm” bark. An “alarm” bark is a higher pitched bark with lots of gaps. Dogs issue the alarm bark to get the owner’s attention. The dog in this video was making an attack/aggression bark. It was deeper in pitch, much faster, and incessant … and included lots of snarling and barking. That dog meant business: the dog viewed the cop as an intruder to his territory and wanted the cop out. When dogs use their attack/aggression bark, they are trying to intimidate an intruder to leave and preparing to attack.
The officer was definitely in danger. The only question in my mind is if pepper spray could have been effective.
I agree. Many warning barks and bluff charges, giving the cop a chance to retreat or at least stop at the territory line, which seemed to be the curb.
Next step in predictable protective dog force continuum is a bite, and a serious one when facing a large attacker, thats already kicked at the dog, and pressing the attack past the boundary.
Doesnt help to have pack behavior reinforced by the golden jumping in, no matter how friendly or otherwise. Just makes the alpha more determined to do its job.
It was ANYTHING but “incessant”. Are you given to hyperbole all the time, or does this touch something personal?
The tempo, energy, and frequency (how often, not pitch) of a dog’s attack/aggression bark is much greater than an alarm bark. The dog that the cop shot was not in a happy place, it was unstable. Its bark and actions were aggressive.
And yes this is personal. I have had to deal with such dogs many times. Irresponsible pet owners suck: their dogs are a serious threat to their neighborhoods — especially children. And their loud barking is horrendous. Like I said in another post. I have a good size dog that is capable of loud obnoxious barking and highly aggressive/dangerous attacks on people. And my dog never does either because I train it and control it properly.
The pet owner who lets large aggressive dogs wander the neighborhood is no better than a firearm owner who constantly sweeps people with the barrel of their firearm. You may not like exactly how that cop chose to deal with that dog, but what the pet owner did was much worse.
What “large, aggressive dogs”? I saw two lab mixes that were WAY short of “aggressive”. Do you train your dogs to dig a hole and get in it when a cop looks at them crossly?
The cop was called for a “dog at large”, cop shows up where are the dogs? At his car barking at him. Now, the dogs are at the cop car, he is in the cop car, everyone is safe. No old lady getting mugged or kids getting mauled. He had a million options from inside the safety of his car. EVERYTHING that happened after he left his car is his fault! Period! He could not even manage not to escalate a situation with a dog. What makes any sane person believe that he would fair any better with a human? “I’m sorry I shot your kid! But the last…(insert race, color, or creed here) I dealt with pulled a (insert weapon here) and your kid was acting squirrelly.”
Tarik Hassani in Arabic means Handsome Morning Star.
The prophet (Peace be upon Him) said that if it licks a utensil of eating or drinking, than we wash it seven times and then rub it with earth.
Also dogs are filthy according to Islam.
But he said on the tape that he likes dogs, so maybe he does not follow the wisdom of Allah.
Maybe he’s not a Muslim. There are plenty of Christians with Arabic-sounding names. Although there aren’t as many as there used to be.
I thought the same thing. He could be Coptic or Druse, for example. But Coptics are mostly of Ethiopian/Eritrean origin, and Hassan’s definitely not a name from the Horn of Africa. I’d guess Saudi or Yemeni.
I think Ralph was sarcastically saying that Middle Eastern Christians are a dying breed….literally. What with the Jihad this, Jihad that…little slit throat here, little beheading there.
What was in my post that led you to think I didn’t understand Ralph’s post?
Because it was logical and well reasoned and didn’t have enough snark 🙂
Pepper spray could have been a better solution, but I see nothing wrong with what was done. Had the dog owner been responsible enough to keep his dogs locked up, it never would have come to this.
It’s always fun reading posts where people bitch about police response time and then others where people are upset a dog had to die for an officer to do his job… of course this IS the internet… we don’t know what we want and we hate everything.
You can bet if he had sat in his car twiddling his thumbs and blooping the siren he’d get complaints for being a lazy donut-eating do-nothing.
Are you serious? Is it really like that where you work? Would you be reprimanded if you took the time to call the house from the cruiser? The time to use pepper spray? If that’s true your chief/director needs to be either fired or dragged through the courts.
+1
And where are the police unions? I imagine they’d defend you if someone complained about you exercising good judgment. Am I wrong about that?
Keep you dog locked up?
Only way for him to “do his job was to kill the dog?
Response time?
Just speechless. Sounds like your one of the King’s men.
Hannibal is the cop version of Baghdad Bob.
😀
This goes beyond this incident. The total lack of respect for life of any form from ST6, to dogs and cats, to everyday citizens that is becoming status quo should trouble everyone. Disagreement with the administration over unconstitutional laws and policies now gets you the “Anti-government” label. It appears the Government decree of “If your not with us your against us” applies to the domestic policy of the nation.
Hannibal just wants to go home to his family every night…
Yes, keep your dog locked up… if you are so irresponsible that you cannot comprehend why, you should not own a dog in the first place. The King’s men comment was clever, but comparing totalitarianism to the land of the free as a way to justify washing your hands of your own irresponsibility is a stretch.
I did not say his job was to kill the dog… I, in fact, stated that pepper spray would have been a better solution. However, I personally carry a .45 rather than pepper spray, and if I were in a similar situation (let’s say cornered by a dog, as my job obviously doesn’t have the same obligations) and honestly believed I would be bitten, I would have no qualms about putting a dog down.
My comment about response time was not directly tied to this specific example, but had this been a response to a violent crime, and a dog was standing in the way of an officer getting to the scene, I wouldn’t expect to see as many people whining about this.
That was a fairly obvious “washing of hands” you just laid out with the hypothetical variables being thrown in. Not ever dog is Cujo but kicking at any dog will antagonize it. I think this guy shot the dogs because he could, not because he had to. What’s next, overly aggressive fish?
Or excessively friendly children.
They got out the door during a kid’s birthday party. Why not just nail their paws to the floor?
Bad shoot. Guy got out of the car with gun drawn looking to shoot the dog(s).
Easy enough for him to have hit the siren to alert the owner to come out and restrain the dogs.
A pro also does not loose his cool the way he did.
Guy is an ass. Department will back him, they always do but look for him to get bounced later. Guy will probably bounce from department to department till no one will hire him
I can’t watch 1 more cop shooting dog vid, ever. I’m really tired of these “heroes” shooting living things without justification. No offense intended, though I’m sure it will be taken, to the good cops out there. But honest to God, these guys are making you all look heartless and cruel.
Everything about this is wrong. I’m very saddened by anybody who sees anything right about this. There should be some consequences and retraining for this officer. I grew up in a better time when that would have caused him to at least be demoted and he most likely would have had to move to a different town from the shame. I knew of a case like that. It was better for all involved.
They WERE better times. My mother gave hobos sandwiches out the back door; the word was out in the hobo jungles. They came to the back door, and thanked her profusely.
Those times are gone; I hope they return someday, in my grandson’s lifetime.
You want to return to the Great Depression?
It was the SIXTIES, ya nudnik.
Notice the deafening silence from gun control groups when it comes to irresponsible behavior from police officers with firearms. Not once have I ever heard one word of condemnation from their leaders or members in cases like this or when a innocent person is injured or killed by the negligence of police officers.
This officer pressed the confrontation, for a dog call?
Thats a ordinance violation, less than a traffic ticket?
So he risked a bite, after he had been bitten again, to …what, write a ticket?
What do they teach small town cops about use of force levels?
Looks like this guy got it reversed.
Could he have:
1. Stayed in the car, and asked dispatch to call the owner of record on the phone to come outside and get the dog.
2. Activated siren and lights, until homeowner came out, to take dog inside.
3. Knocked on a neighbors door, to call their neighbor to come outside.
4. Hollered from the curb. The dog backed off until he came on lawn and kicked at the dog. Common sense would indicate that with that weather, the dogs would be more likely to be going inside, eventually- and if they barked long enough, the owner would figure it out.
If not a ticket, then there has to be another reason- ie dangerous dog on the loose, and public safety of other people is the priority. Looked like late in the day snow, no kids around- no urgency, in other words.
So, could he have also used lower force levels-
5. Used a nightstick on the dog- cops still get trained on those, or the collapsible baton, correct?
6. If cops have to fill in for Animal Control, why dont they just carry a pole with loop, in the trunk, that can be used to collar the dog at a distance, and just tie the dog off to a fence or tree or something why he goes to the door to knock.
7. Entice the dogs into the back seat, and close the door.
If the cops are filling in for animal control, eventually they have to bring a dangerous dog under control, off the street right? How bout a treat for a hungry dog?
7. Tased the dog.
Last – if he HAD to shoot it, wouldnt it make sense to call for some kind of backup, just for another witness?
The cop was obviously stressed enough that he kind of “lost it” with the homeowner. He needs someone with a bit of maturity available to partner up with him, I think, to help him slow down, and set priorities when he is fired up.
I dont doubt that getting bit made a big impression on him, and affected his judgement. This should not be a surprise to anyone. I hope his chief is reading comments here…this reflects badly on him, and whomever is paying their salary, and for the training officer, too.
Now, having said all that about the cop-
the truth is, the owner screwed up, and his negligence created the problem,
an aggressive dogs(s) in the street, that bothered other citizens enough, they called.
What happened was not a big surprise to anyone who owns dogs, and letting the dog be off leash was an accident waiting to happen.
For all we know, someone else had already been bit, or threatened, and this dog was off its head, having been neglected, out in the rain/snow, whatever the situation when it should have been inside or tied up, and would have bit someone else had the cop left it alone.
In that case, shooting the dog makes a lot of sense.
The dogs death is on the owner, no matter how poorly the officer handled it.
“If he had left his gun in his car, we wouldn’t be arguing this today.”
Isn’t that what “they” always say when somebody gets shot in self defense? Sucks when the shoe is on the (flat) foot, isn’t it.
What happened to the force continuum? A little pepper spray would have gone a long way in this situation.
Asshole irresponsible dog owner but also dumb fucking cop. Why not use pepper spray or taser?
+1
We have the The Truth about Guns and The Truth About Knives (throw in The Truth about Cars if you feel like it)… I think now we need the Truth about Dogs!
Chickenshit pussy cop, he has less than lethal devices on his service belt, he just wanted to shoot something…he may as well retire, because in Idaho, they just don’t go for this kind of crap…Additionally, the police dept owes the dog owner another service dog…
He’ll be lucky if the Police Dept. doesn’t send him a bill for the bullets.
The dogs had escaped out the door during a child’s birthday party. They were not normally running loose. This armed government employee needs to be disarmed and fired.
Am i the only one who noticed a dog howl in pain as soon as the pig opened his door?
You know what you do in this situation?
1.)Bend over
2.)Show the dog your wrists, let him lick your palms.
3.)Start scratching around his head and ears (they love this)
4.)Say mushy stuff like “that’s a good boy, a yeah, hoozi woozi ba hup bup…”
Now the dog loves you and you don’t have to shoot it.
This is advice for those of you who somehow think these dogs were acting “aggressive.”
I’m not sure I could have handled the situation much better myself, because I wasn’t there. And I give all people the benefit of the doubt, even government employees. That being said, you know what I was issued to deal with aggressiveogs when I was trained to
be a meter reader? An umbrella. Pop it open in their face, and they back off. Also handy in a rainstorm.
My dogs run off at the rack of the slide
My dogs would get excited when we pulled out a gun. They associated a firearm with bird hunting. My dogs would get crazy excited when they saw shotgun/rifle. And they were always disappointed when we said they couldn’t come to the range.
Seriously? Are full grown God damn men really, truly that frightened by a damn canine? A man that is armed and could surely shoot the dog if/when it had attacked. We keep hearing/reading about incidents like these where absolutely nothing happens to the officer. They return to duty unscathed. However, should we be surprised? Hell, if LAPD’s finest can open up on random citizens delivering newspapers and keep their jobs, I suppose shooting a dog in the face is justified under any circumstance. Just disgusting. There is no justification possible for that officer’s actions. None.
As someone else stated, this guy belongs in a nice safe office with nothing more dangerous than a few pencils and a fax machine. Dude can’t face down a barking dog and we trust him to ‘protect’ people?
Two large dogs off a leash, out in the open, running around free, demonstrating hostility toward officer.
What was he supposed to do? Get bit?
Righteous shoot in my opinion.
Keep your stupid dogs in the house and on a leash if you don’t want them shot.
So eager to kill. I’m guessing you’re more of an Old Testament kind of guy.
Yes, because barking is “hostility”. If you’re that much of a coward, you should shoot yourself and make the world a better place.
Two large dogs off a leash, out in the open, running around free, demonstrating hostility toward officer.
Me Paul McCain, me hate dog bark at officer. You no want dog shoot, you keep in cave. Praise the sun!
Yep. The cops should requisition a few ARs and drive around shooting every dog in sight.
You morons act like this happened in Chicago. It was in a little Idaho town. The dogs were in the owner’s yard the entire goddamn time. Ever lived in a small town?
Except that they weren’t in his yard the whole time. They had been roaming the neighborhood, which is why the cops were called in the first place. Now that they were back in their own yard, was he supposed to shrug his shoulders, close out the call and leave?
Hell no. He should have shot both dogs, the owner, and then himself, Matt.
😀
Damn. That made my day. Thank goodness for keyboard covers.
@ Matt
“Now that they were back in their own yard, was he supposed to shrug his shoulders, close out the call and leave?”
So instead of giving the owner a ticket for f-ing dogs walking around and barking, he SHOOTS ONE?! Seriously, how can you possibly claim that was justified in any way?
“OK Sir, your kids were running around the neighborhood and I know they’re back in your yard, but I’m going to shoot one of them to teach you that I AM THE LAW!” Christ, you’re definitely in the category of “people who should not be trusted with a gun”.
All I was addressing was the statement that the dogs were in the owner’s yard the whole time. They weren’t, they were roaming the neighborhood, which resulted in the police call. I think it sucks that he shot the dog, and I can think of at least three ways he could have handled it better.
@ Matt
Hardly. You said “what was he supposed to do, shrug his shoulders and go home?” in response to him having no need to shoot the dog in their own yard. You can’t backtrack away from this one.
Right, because he still had to make the call on the house. He couldn’t just shrug his shoulders and leave. He did a poor job of that. I should have left off that last sentence, because it distracts from my point, which was that they were not in their own yard the whole time.
And even at that point, in point of fact, they weren’t, because they came out into the street to bark at (and get hit by) the driver’s side door of the cruiser.
I really don’t see that much irresponsibility on the part of the cop. Dog owner yes, but cop, no.
Yes, he could and probably should have tried a less than lethal weapon but the fact is the dog was acting in a very agressive manner. As to calling out on the PA, probably wouldn’t have done any good and been ignored just like all the barking.
I suspect few responders have had to confront often vicious animals on a daily bases. In my job I have and once had to step inside a customers home without permission to avoid being bit. If my company allowed me to carry it would have been a very dead dog.
that’s because you’re a sadistic coward too.
The dog owner showed far more irresponsibility than the cop. Only thing he really did wrong was kicking at the dog. I’d most likely shot the mutt before he did.
His language afterward wasn’t right though. Understandable but not right.
I’m just going to quote the fellow above because if I try to comment on my own, it’s going to be nothing but four letter words for this pitiful waste of a uniform. “And yet, somehow, some way, how many thousands of cable guys, water guys, gas guys, dish guys, pizza guys, Fedex/UPS guys, postal guys, and a zillion other unfamiliar people deal with strange dogs every day with mild or no force, certainly not deadly force. But when it comes to the police, it’s guns blazing because, well, who’s going to hold them accountable?”
Okay, he’s there to protect the public from an agressive dog. If he cant safely catch it, the owner wont catch it (should have heard it barking in front of his house and put it in the house), it was suggested that he pepper spray the dog. Now you have an agitated and (in his mind) wounded dog running wildly through the neighborhood which is now even more likely to bite the next person he runs into.
That cop gunned down that dog in cold blood, then lied to the owner when he claimed that it was trying to bite him.
When I was a kid growing up, there lots of dogs in my neighborhood, and I often dealt with dogs like this. I had a paper route, and dogs would bark at me and chase me, or I’d encounter them when I was walking home from school. If I could deal with dogs as a 12 year old boy (without a gun), then surely this cop can do better.
Filer, Idaho city ordinance:Any dog found running at large contrary to the provisions of this chapter may be apprehended by any city employee and shall be impounded or delivered to its owner; provided, however, that if any dangerous or vicious dog so found at large cannot be safely taken up and impounded, such dog may be slain forthwith.
And what in that applies to the situation at hand? Other than “dog”, I mean.
The dogs were running loose in the neighborhood. A neighbor called to complain. In fact, if you listen to what the cop tells the owner, he (the cop) was at another nearby house to take the dog complaint when one of the dogs approached him there. After taking the complaint, he encountered the dog(s) again, this time in their own yard.
So the answer to your question: what part applies? The part about the dog “running at large contrary to the provisions of this chapter.” And depending on how you look at it, the “cannot be safely taken up and impounded” part.
The dogs were in their owner’s yard, Matt. The caller may have been mistaken, a tight-ass, a busybody. The same type who call the cops when they see their next-door neighbor putting a gun in their truck.
A “vicious” dog is, by local legal definition, one that has either already bitten someone, or is believed to have bitten someone.
That does not apply in this case.
Vicious or dangerous.
Technically, dangerous can be interpreted as a dangerous propensity can include dangerous playfulness and over-demonstrative affection:
“[O]ne who keeps a large dog that he knows to be accustomed to fawn violently upon children and adults is liable under [section 509 of the Restatement] for harm done by its dangerous playfulness or over-demonstrative affection …. [Par.] … [L]ikewise [i]f the possessor knows that his dog has the playful habit of jumping up on visitors, he will be liable without negligence when the dog jumps on a visitor, knocks him down and breaks his hip …. ” (Restatement Second of Torts, sec. 509, comments (c) and (i), cited in Drake v. Dean (1993) 15 Cal.App.4th 915.)
Let’s see:
Name: Tarik Hassani. Check.
Religion: Muslim. Check.
Education: Hardly any.
Hates: Dogs cuz they are filthy by Muslim standards. Check.
Result: Kills dog.
I believe this sums it up pretty well.
How about you peddle that racist bullshit elsewhere. It’s not welcome here.
I live in the area.
I am friends with some members of the Hassani family.
They are not, in fact, Muslim.
Glad somebody could clear that up.
That piece of sh** should be shot himself. First he kicks the dog, then is surprised that the dog tried to bite him, so he shot it. This makes me so angry I can spit bullets. Who does this pig think he is?
(I am trying not to swear.)
I too am literally so mad I’m sick to my stomach. That sick coward asshole son of a bitch. I wish ill upon him to untold levels. It all comes back in the end. If this Pig (and I am Pro-Police, mind you) gets killed in the line of duty, I won’t feel one bit bad. I won’t celebrate, but I won’t feel one bit bad – because he sewed the wind. Let him reap the whirlwind. He didn’t have to shoot that dog. He wanted to shoot that dog and had no hesitation in doing so.
+1000
I have been a Service Electrician (Meaning I show up at your house or business to make repairs) for 20 Years, I have never met a dog or a group of dogs that can’t be mollified by a dog biscuit and patience. Yes I’ve had ankle biters get me; never a injury from them. Big Dogs can be scary but if you approach them on their terms I have never had a problem. There have been two occasions where I felt it was better to retreat and call the owner. But after introduction by the owner to the dog all was well. How you treat peoples pets (property, children, spouses, etc…) reflects highly on your character and on your employer (Department & Taxpayers). It’s called Customer Service. You as a Cop provide a service to us the taxpayers, we are your employer. You as a Cop have a difficult enough job you do not need the people you serve to be pissed at you for not doing your job in a manner the does not respect your chosen profession. Deadly force is the LAST resort always Human or Animal! Having said all that the Homeowner is an idiot for letting his pets run free and is equally responsible. Neither get a pass for bad judgement.
Oh come on now…… those tactics that you employ are evidently rocket science and we cant expect LEO departments to be able to comprehend such complicated ideas!
Well, seeing as how the cop’s employer rules over Hell….
It’s a bad shoot. Plain and simple. If you don’t want to get bit, stay in the car. A barking dog is not louder than the sirens or loudspeaker on a police car.
The dogs were not being agressive they were pissed that he tried to kick them yeah. I would be too.
He wanted to hurt those dogs. Guess he wanted to feel more manly.
And yes I have been attacked by a dog. My face and arm are permanently scarred from it. I have no ill will towards the dog who did it or any other dog. This guy is a pussy. Pure and simple.
Amen to that. Cowardly son of a bitch any way you cut it. Uniform or not.
+1
That piece of shit cop should’ve been shot by the owner. If it was my dog, that cop wouldn’t have gotten off the lawn without being in a body bag. I don’t care who you are, if you shoot my dog, I WILL shoot you.
+1
The dude was bigger and louder than the dogs, and had at least 3 different weapons options besides the gun. Square up, get loud, and be aggressive. Use spray or the baton.
Or, don’t get out of the cruiser, and use the loudspeaker to address the homeowner. Many options besides shooting the dog.
What a sissy.
Man, the cop sounds like my 4 year old son right after he gets hurt and is about to cry, but is trying not to. He is practically sobbing.
Poor wittle officuh got bit by a doggie. Sounds like he needs a desk job.
Spent much time with folks under the effects of adrenaline? That’s what it sounds like. The adrenaline kicks in after the incident (in this case the shot) and everything goes sideways for a little while. You can hear it in his voice, and I bet his hands were shaking like crazy too. It happens to most people in the aftermath of an event.
If those dogs gave him that kind of adrenaline rush, he should not be a police officer, PERIOD. God knows how he’d handle himself in an actual effing emergency.
I’d venture his adrenaline spike is more from the rush of firing his weapon than from fear.
I can’t imagine being more afraid of a dog than of the dog’s owner, and he sure wasn’t afraid to beat on the front door without backup.
I’ve spent plenty of time coming down from the effects of adrenaline. Heck, after a particular workplace injury I actually passed out as the adrenaline wore off. The fact that a couple dogs had his adrenaline pumping that high is a testament to his need to get off the street. I’d say this entire incident spun out of control based completely on the officer’s adrenaline spike due to his fear of the dogs.
Who knows, maybe he didn’t understand how afraid of dogs he would be based on the last incident until he was faced with a dog again. Maybe he has PTSD (rofl…) from the dog bite. Whatever the case, he isn’t fit for patrol duty.
The cop is really lucky the owner didn’t decide to defend his own animals and property against the perp.
Hey Hannibal. Have a great day:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2025812/Police-officer-Robert-Lasso-shot-dead-pointing-stun-gun-mans-dogs.html
Yep, and fifteen months later he got the death penalty for it: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2012/05/george_hitcho_jr_sentenced_to.html
Just showed this video to my wife’s father and brother. Both are leos.
Both said it was a good training video for how not to engage an animal that is not attacking. The both stated that the only animal being aggressive is the cop. My brother in law says he gives leos a bad name.
Most valuable input on this so far. Thanks.
Here is an interview with the dog owner and the police chief. Also, the news channel released the entire dashboard video after “…overwhelming response…”
http://www.kmvt.com/news/latest/Filer-Police-Officer-Shoots-Local-Mans-Dog-244823291.html
Update: the officer was placed on administrative leave Tuesday.
http://magicvalley.com/news/local/filer-residents-call-for-firing-of-officer-who-shot-dog/article_5e989a44-928a-11e3-b2a5-0019bb2963f4.html
“Mark Deaton, of Twin Falls, started a Facebook page called “Officer Hassani Get Out Of Filer, Idaho” that garnered more than 3,000 “likes” in less than 24 hours.”
I can understand being nervous around the dogs for some people, but shooting the dog was completely unnessescary. Tasering/ pepper spray is a better choice, if it doesn’t work then then shooting the dog would be a better choice. Personally, having dispatch call the house would have been the best choice.
As for the cop, if your that scared of the dogs you need to be done with law enforcement. I agree getting bit sucks, but if your that emotionally distraught by it you need to be done.
As for dog owners, teach your dogs not to be assholes.
I didn’t read all the above comments but of those I did, I did not see mention of a dog snare. Dog snares are commonly used during search warrants and work very well in controlling aggressive dogs. Not saying it was available to the officer or that he should use one by himself but its a tool that can be used. Another big problem here that goes unmentioned is that the officer was alone. Sending officers alone on calls of any kind is the first mistake made, and it was made before the officer even arrived on scene.
…Which probably contributed to him soiling his trousers and hiding behind a burner.
Actually your right, although you don’t understand why I’m sure. When you’re sent alone to a disturbance call and confronted by a situation in which you’ve been seriously injured in the past, you sometimes make decisions based on fear. Fear based decisions are usually not the best ones, although they are not always wrong. My point was, if two officers had been sent to the call the dog may not have been shot. But then, you have to have the experience of an officer to fully appreciate that.
I guess while we’re all speculating, you may as well densely level some breezy assumptions at your fellow readers, eh?
Breezy assumptions are what this blogs made of. I learned that in very short order.
I live in the area, so allow me to provide a bit of perspective that might otherwise be missing.
Filer is a small town in a rural area. The town police also cover their RFD. Which means that the population of Filer is a minority of the population that the police department is responsible to/for. On nearly all of these rural homesteads, there will be dogs patrolling the property. Dogs that are fenced or leashed would be an unusual way for him to encounter them. Virtually all dogs he encounters will be territorial, because that’s how dogs are.
The officer has been employed in his present capacity for a number of years. He has not left a trail of canine corpses prior to this (but see below*), so we can be confident that he’s been able to react appropriately in the past, and he has necessarily had a lot of experience doing so.
As noted, the dogs in the video were territorial, but not aggressive. Anyone with any experience should have been able to handle the situation in a non-violent fashion.
Hassani had that experience.
Patrolmen have less than lethal options available to them for threats that do not reach a reasonable man’s threshold for lethal force. That threshold was clearly not met, but patrolman Hassani exited the car with his sidearm drawn.
It is infeasible to claim he did so to try and intimidate the dog and de-escalate the situation. Dogs do not grok firearms.
Hassani hit the dog with his car door, and them attempted to kick it.
Both actions were unprovoked.
Then Hassani escalated the situation further.
It was a bad shoot. If he didn’t have a badge, he’d have gone to jail, and would currently be facing prosecution.
Other information that may be relevant:
The officer in question had recently been cleared of a questionable shoot that took place in 2010.
Many citizens of the area have publicly come forward to complain about their experiences with patrolman Hassani. *Including claims that he threatened to shoot their dogs.
The residence was having a Birthday party for 9 year-olds. As such, it’s not exactly surprising that the dogs managed to get outside unnoticed.
There doesn’t seem to be much record of this owner or these dogs running afoul of Filer’s leash laws prior to this.
Filer does not have an Animal Control Officers. But Twin Falls County does (also, K9 units). Filer is located in Twin Falls County. Had Hassani felt the need for specialized experience, he could have requested assistance.
Good to know. Thanks for the info.
Thanks for the input. I also want to register my pleasure at your use of the word “grok.” I used to hear it all the time, but not so much anymore, and I appreciate it.
Yeah, I hadn’t seen or heard “grok” in a month of Sundays, either. I smiled.
Waiting is. Grok is coming back.
I have been a FedEx driver for 3 years. Most of that time I have been working in a rural area full of people who don’t care enough about their dogs to confine them with a fence or restrict them with a chain or keep them in the back yard or anything, they just run all over the place. I have gotten good at determining which dogs are just hyperactive pin-heads that bark to the heavens but never do anything and the ones that want to bite me. I can tell before I get out of my truck how a dog will act by its initial reaction when I pull up. I would say about 95% dont show any signs of true hostility. The ones that bite dont waste time doing it, or trying. I have had to swing packages, kick, or smack them with my scanner to keep from being hurt. Sometimes I wish I had my G26 with me because their owners wouldn’t give a rip if the dog decomposed right there in the driveway anyway. I see roadkilled dogs decomposing right in front of their “owners” house almost everyday. That being said, a dog problem is really an owner problem. So part of me is glad this owner learned a lesson, the other part knows those dogs weren’t really hostile. He should have walked up to the door and knocked and told the owner their dogs were bothering everyone. He could have just made the owner feel stupid, or threaten to get animal control. I heard his voice shaking when he shot the dog, so he’s got a conscience in there somewhere.
Thank you for your service. FedEx has always done right by me.
They suck where I live. Worse than all the other carriers combined.
I laughed out loud at “Thank you for your service” in that context.
This clip is painful to watch, but it does provoke a pretty powerful response on both sides of the issue. I guess that’s what we’re here for. I’m still on the side of this dink being a disgrace to the uniform, but I can at least understand the arguments being made in his defense. I don’t agree with them, but I understand. Sort of. I guess the good news is that we don’t have many “HAW HAW! TAKE THAT, DAWG! IF THAT WAS ME, IDA SHOT IT AGAIN!” types around here. There are some forums where the participants would have thoroughly enjoyed the above clip. Sad but true.
Mr. Hussani also was a tad trigger happy in May 2010. He shot a suspect in the head. Markcus May.
Good shoot. The cop was afraid (hence the adrenaline dump) and was apologetic afterward. Contrary to the keyboard commandos, he didn’t act with any malice.
The owner was the epitome of white trash, though. He can hear his dogs barking outside, hear a gunshot, the dog yelping, and he still takes his time answering the door.
“Contrary to the keyboard commandos, he didn’t act with any malice.”
Your beloved thug already had his gun out before he even left the car. He was planning on shooting someone / something before he even encountered the dogs.
I helped my wife deliver some package’s at a cops house for Fed Ex. He had two Dobermann Pinchers. I got out and these 2 dogs charged me when I got to his porch and dropped the packages off. They were snarling and showing their teeth. I told myself I wasn’t going to show any fear. I held my hands out, palm up, and kept talking to them until they started wagging their tails. I started petting them and they were ok then the dog owner came out and asked did you just pet my dogs. I said yeah, he said I paid good money for them that they are trained attack dogs and I ruin them. He pulled his gun out and killed both of them. That tells me I ,we need guns to protect me against rogue cops. The cop that I am talking about was full blown pycho. It look like this guy need his gun taken away too.
“Good shoot”/sarc
<cough> Bullshit <cough>
Sigh, and they wonder why there’s animosity towards police… Sure, they were unleashed, shame on their owner. Many dogs are freaked out at uniforms, however, and many people wearing them are trained about it. It’s also pretty damn obvious the dogs were just hanging back, probably looking out for their house or some shit, even when he walked right towards them (???) they retreated…. It looks like he just wanted to shoot something…… or has never interacted with a dog, i’m leaning towards the former.
This officer needs to be promoted to a SWAT team now!
You win the interwebz today!
Sorry but it was a clean shoot IMHO. We can 2nd guess all day long, but we were not there. A lunging dog is a dangerous dog. Owners at fault for letting dogs roam free. Here’s another cop involved shooting and I guarantee 99% of the dog lovers will say it’s a bad shoot………
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=670841776267356&set=vb.100000246204208&type=2&theater
Show us where in the video the “lunging” takes place. You are seeing something that’s just not there. Anything to excuse a dog-killing cop.
You must be watching a different video then. The tan dog lunged 3 times and the brown twice. The point is, the dogs should have not been there by ordinance. Argue with that.
Okay. There is no leash ordinance.
Good hell, are gun owners going full retard?
You can have whatever dog you want, behind a fence, on a chain, on a leash, in your house. You let it loose and it threatens my family it will get a beating or a bullet.
“You can have whatever cop you want, behind a fence, on a chain, on a leash, in your house. You let it loose and it threatens my family it will get a beating or a bullet.”
There. Better!
good point!!
You walk onto my property without my permission and I’ll let my dogs loose.
Thanks for the examples of going full retard.
Thanks for regurgitating one of the lamest lines from an equally stupid movie. Any chance we can get some originality with that desperate fencewalking attempt?
Question: If the cop haters who infest this site keep snarling, yapping and baring their teeth (like the dogs in the video) should we…..
a) spray
b) tase
c) shoot
d) all of the above
…..them as well?
Damn, I am amazed at how many people would rather get bit, than protect themselves. Jeez…………., and here I thought Obama and his cronies were paranoid narcissistic moron’s for thinking the American people are a threat to authorities………..but guess not. A freekin’ animals life has more value than a human to most of these writers. I am the first one on the “hold authorities to a higher standard” bandwagon and my FB pages shows that. But maybe there is something to making the gun buying process a bit tougher, if this is what the 2A movement is producing these days.
Deadly force is not this cop’s only method of protection. It is his PREFERRED method, which is what is so upsetting.
Agreed, but he had already been bitten in a previous incident, thus deadly force was more of a choice in this case. Anyway, all this armchair policing after watching a video and not having access to everything prior too and after, is BS. .
Do you know where the term “armchair quarterbacking” comes from? You’ve never second-guessed an NFL or NCAA quarterback during slow-motion replays for his lack of awareness and lapse in game tactics?
What’s BS is that people like you think that there should be no checks and balances. If officer Hassani were to be given even a simple, written reprimand – which you and I both know will NEVER happen, thanks to the “thin blue line” – and if other officers were be disciplined using methods RELATIVE to their mistakes…then something like this would be met with a milder response.
But since we all know that Hassani was given PAID LEAVE (as per SOP) for shooting an unarmed person in the head…and because we all know that he will walk away UNSCATHED from this dog-killing incident…the responding scrutiny will continue to get worse and worse for less and less significant trespasses by police.
When you take accountability away, empathy goes right out the door with it.
See, this is EXACTLY my point………….you ASSUME that I don’t think we should question authorities. And we know what assume does, and I am not the ass. Thus the obvious point is……..well, your good at it!! You figure it out!!
I never said anything about not questioning. I said that most are making comments with only a small part of info available. A video. Geez-louise.
You assume that I assume.
But you have left a compelling trail of evidence that clearly indicates an outcome that corroborates my observations.
No kidding……anger issues abound here….
If trolls get paid overtime, big check for you this week.
This video has me pissed off into scary blood pressure range.
It’s very clear that this is a happy, “I’m telling my master you are here” dog.
I am sorry for not reading all of the replies to see if I am repeating what’s been said.
The canines that I have been privileged enough to be family with were worth more than this dirtbags life.
This jack-wagon, musloid, badge wearing, jihadi, needs to be prosecuted in a very bad way.
I’ll leave it at that, as I’m too angry to say something I may regret.
Officer Hassani is not a Muslim.
Everyone saying that its the owner’s fault for letting his dogs get out is wrong. period. it isn’t his fault. that’s like blaming a woman for getting raped because of the way she dressed. Could you argue that those actions in both scenarios made bad consequences more likely? sure. but tit doesnt mean they dont have a right to do it.
the dogs hadnt yet attacked him, and they calmed down when the cop wasnt on the yard. they werent doing anything that warranted a shoot. there were no attempted bites, they were calm briefly before the shoot. he should have called the owner out verbally instead of trying to go straight up to the door after he saw they werent happy to see him the FIRST Time he approached him. that’s the STUPIDEST mistake here. the dogs barked at him the first time, then they retreated to the lawn and calmed down. instead of realizing that the dogs would act aggressively again if he approached them, the cop just went on ahead anyways.
They’re dogs. you cant fault them for acting like dogs. you cant treat them like humans. all they see is some dude invading their territory. the cop should have not approached since he KNEW they would act aggressively. in that action, he became the aggressor and HE led to the events that led to the shoot.
Bad shoot;Tarrik: change careers now. I’ve read every comment, no one has mentioned how he threatens the dog owner a minute later: “Get your ID, this is the last time I’m going to ask”. What, was he planning to shoot the owner next? For slow compliance?. Coward cop has BIG ego, short fuse, and is trigger happy. Bad combo for LE. Sounded like he hit the dog with his cruiser door at the start, then kicks him; any wonder the black lab was keyed up? Cop escalates hostility every step of the way till he shoots the dog from a range of 5 ft when it was _not_ trying to bite anyone. The dog did lung at him, but the cop instigated it. ALL THE COP HAD TO DO WAS BACK OFF!
But a big ego can’t retreat even when that’s the best tactical move. If he had given the dogs a chance to calm down, made some friendly gestures/sounds, next thing you know they would probably try to lick him to death, or beat him to death with friendly tail wags. Cop only had to 1) return to cruiser, or 2) step across the street, or 3) call dispatch to phone owner, or 4) deploy pepper spray, etc.
But no, like too many cops, his BIG EGO, backed by his Official Government Badge, decides to kill a dog in its own front yard. Cop is just a trigger-happy coward who can’t make good decision under very little pressure. He’s such a busy dude, just has to write that citation in the next 60 seconds and that dog is holding him up. Heck, labs are about the least aggressive large dog breed I’ve ever seen. Lotsa dumb happy bark in labs, very little bite. They were bred to be nav units on fishing boats, a low-buck lookout, foghorn, radar and range finder all in one, among boats fishing foggy water. These labs were typical: excited and a bit moronic, but not likely hostile until provoked by the officer. Tails up, jumping up and down = excited. A dog that is going to bite crouches tail down, teeth bared, growling. His excuse for dog murder is “the dog was trying to bite him”. Not a chance pal. Quit LE before you kill a kid with a toy.
““Get your ID, this is the last time I’m going to ask”. What, was he planning to shoot the owner next? For slow compliance?”
What he actually said was “Please get me your ID, I’m not gonna ask you again,” and the implied threat was not that he was going to shoot him, though nice job letting your emotions overtake your listening comprehension. The implied threat there was stated in plain English not 10 seconds earlier when he said, “Provide me your ID or I’m gonna take you to jail for obstruct and delay.”
Matt, you are right, I misquoted him, and chose an unfair interpretation of his threat; It wasn’t emotional or lack of comprehension; I was being sarcastic. He is a trigger happy dick with big ego, and damn insensitive to the citizen dog owner, demanding instant compliance from someone who just had his 7 year pet murdered. The Cop is all “comply now or else”; can’t wait a couple minutes for the owner to reorient to the fact that the government just murdered his dog. Sure, the cop has got adrenaline in his blood, but if his adrenaline fueled ego turns him into a dick, he needs to find a line of work less likely to stimulate his adrenal gland. If I were the home owner I would have gone back inside the house, shut the door, and called my lawyer. Not talking to a cop on my front porch who just shot my dog. The cop and his egotistical “comply now or else” attitude is the problem here. The cop could just relax a little, but he continues to escalate the situation. The cop needs to change careers before the next dogs owner shoots back in defense of life and property. The well trained and equipped modern LEO has numerous options. He chose to kill because he can and knows he will get away with it. That is the larger point here. Many cops know they face few consequences, so they become bullies. Not all cops, only 40 to 80% of them. Bullies behind a badge. To dogs, to people. The citizens are getting fed up with this crap. Thanks for your comments here, by the way.
My initial reaction was: Assassin. This cop was just a cold, calculating piece of crap. But – ‘coward’ is a better description.
What was so urgent? Did the officer need to reach the owner’s front door quickly to prevent someone’s death or harm?
Otherwise, the officer could have remained in (or returned to) the car and tried alerting the homeowner via telephone, lights/siren, etc. Unless someone was in immediate danger, I see no need for confrontation.
No need to “read” the dogs’ moods or understand how they work or react. Just wait it out until or unless such low-key methods fail. What’s the rush?
Unless I’ve missed some pertinent detail (entirely possible, I suppose) there was no reason for anyone to be put in jeopardy.
Being a PO means you use discretion. This guy should be fired & charged with animal cruelty. What a disgrace to the uniform.
Was this PO fired & arrested? This video is enough to show that he lacks discretion & disgraces the uniform.
He was placed on administrative leave yesterday (Tuesday).
http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/02/robert-farago/irresponsible-gun-owner-of-the-day-filer-id-officer-tarik-hassani-nsfw/#comment-1556673
This just makes me sad. This was the first thing I saw today while drinking my coffee. Bad shoot period, and I’m not a LEO hater, it was uncalled for and that cop had other options. This makes me appreciate that my family has very tall fences, an electric gate with an intercom and signs stating plainly “BEWARE OF DOGS” and “TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT.”
Seriously, the first thing I would do if a police officer showed up at our gate would be to round up my dogs before ever even letting him through the gate. Crimony,
This may have been mentioned in the comments already, but whether or not shooting the dog was justified, is aside from the point. Numerous times prior to the shot the officer draws a bead on the dog. In my review of the video it appears that he’s using the firearm in a threatening manner to the dog. The problem is, the dog likely has no idea what’s being pointed at him. Furthermore, the office gun handling appears to border on brandishing the way that he casually carries his sidearm in hand and waves it around.
While I could be persuaded the the shoot could (and likely will) be justified the events preceding the shoot only exacerbated the problem. On the physical force continuum a hard strike from a collapsible baton would have gone a long way to subduing the dogs. Moving the timeline further back, there were likely better ways to approach the situation even before the office exited the vehicle, as already stated. I live in a rural area in an unincorporated community stray (or loose) dogs and coyotes are frequent. However, even in the small municipalities around my home animal control is handled by the county not the city. I would find it unlikely that similar situation didn’t exist in this area.
I think that this video is telling not in so much as the officer ended up shooting the dog, but in displaying his attitude to the call from the beginning.
Weighing in on an already over-commented column: If you’ve been bitten by a dog you’ll relate with how painful it is. I don’t blame the officer for not wanting to be bitten again. The dogs were aggressive, both growling and barking, the brown one charging repeatedly. Perhaps the dogs were in the mode of “defending the family” which would include all the kids at the party, plus the excitement of the party, which undoubtedly heightened their reaction to the officer. He was well in his right to defend himself but the first option should’ve been pepper spray not the pistol. The dog owner is definitely the “irresponsible dog owner of the day”, no doubt about that either.
I’ve been bit. Yes, it hurt like hell. And I was in the wrong, a boy of 12 or so, who ran, instead of facing the damn dog down. I learned my lesson that day, and I’ve never backed down from one since that day.
The cop had been bitten, and he couldn’t learn the same lesson a 12-year old boy learned. INSTANTLY.
Once you’ve faced down a dog, you should know how to handle the situation from then on; this cop was aggressive at first, and then showed his weakness. Never show your weakness to a dog; he owns you at that point.
The cop was stupid, wrongly aggressive and just plain stupid. I could have handled those dogs, and in two minutes, they would have been licking my hands.
The officer is unfit for the role he’s expected to play. He fails as a man.
Go right ahead Cesar Milan…….
Fascinating thread. Interesting to see how different people react to what appears to have been a non-urgent, non-life threatening situation. (And, hey, if I’ve missed some important detail, it wouldn’t be the first time. LOL)
That god damn monster will never be held responsible. Pig.
So from what I could see the dog was excited, but not leaping to attack him, the cop kicks the dog then shoots it down in their front yard. I hope this idiot loses his badge. It was hard to watch past the first shot. This is the same kind of trigger happy bullshit that gets people shot for voicing their opinions.
I wonder how the 9 year old that saw this will feel about cops and law enforcement when he/she grows up?
My guess is “not too wonderful”.
Wow, over 400 replies (so far). Gotta be a record.
I just gave my Lab daughter a hug and kiss goodnight and reassured her I would always look out for her. FWIW
I don’t think it’s even close to a record. Sandy Hook, anyone?
And your daughter’s a Labrador Retriever?
The owner is partly at fault for letting the dogs out, IF he actually let them out. I had a dog that would do almost anything to get out the door, and he got out a lot over the nearly 12 years I had him. He was about as friendly to people as could be though, so he was more likely to try to kiss them than do anything else. As nice as he was, we had a mailman who was terrified of him, and would practically panic just seeing him.
But the real culprit is the cop. He made a lot of mistakes. The first thing he should have done is either call the house, or radio the dispatcher and have them call the homeowner and get them to bring the dogs in. If they couldn’t call, then get on the speaker and get the people in the house’s attention. Then pepper spray, and then, if he was actually attacked, shoot the dog. Escalation is the word he forgot. He just went off the deep end, either from being scared, or he’s one of those guys with a secret wish to shoot something. His being “Arab” probably has nothing to do with it, I know a lot of Arabs, Muslim and Christian alike, and they all have dogs. ALL OF THEM, except one guy who is allergic. Of course, these are all people that grew up here, and were around dogs their entire lives, just like the cop in this story almost has to be. I don’t see how it’s possible to live in the US without a lot of dog contact. This guy shows he probably shouldn’t be employed as a cop, or at least on the street with a gun. Put him in records..
Yeah, since it was a kid’s birthday party, it’s a reasonable bet that one of the kids let him out while coming inside, or going out. I saw a lot of blame and vituperation for the dog’s owner, but likely he didn’t even know the dog had gotten out.
Well genius, since the dogs lack opposing thumbs and deductive reasoning…..its is the F’n owners fault!
Are you an LEO, are you a certified trainer in LEO matters? If not, then STFU! You can’t make your assumptions based on a grainy & very dark crappy dash cam video. You can barely see the damn dog and his movements that preceded the shooting. Would you tell your physician how to treat you, or the airline pilot how to fly HIS aircraft? Not unless you want to find a new doc and take the bus, so why hammer the police officer for making a split second decision? Unless you are an expert or at the very least experienced with REAL police work, then its better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
….I think the “cop-haters” on this site and within our society have every right to both judge and condemn the actions of this idiot cop and most of his brethren across the country/globe…we know how corrupt the agencies that claim to be police are…how the “protect and serve” is pure BS….and we know that most cops are passive-aggressive, mentally damaged souls from their genetics or from the lousy parental upbringing … and we have watched the Law Enforcement Profession evolve into gangsters, prostitutes and drug addicts…serving the illegal and unconstitutional ends of their paymasters…and the general public has a really good idea of the faults…trial and errors of the LEO Community….that is why we want to charge mostly all of them with treason…convict them…and hang the lot of them…and before all the LEO’s start whining about my POV…I grew up with a family of corrupt LEO’s…hung around them my entire life…and watched as they abused their way through life thinking they were better than their peers and the public…convict and hang the corrupt ones…let the decent ones take the lesson…
RJ O’Guillory
Author-
Webster Groves – The Life of an Insane Family
Having had my right forearm ripped open by a Rottweiler, tough shit for the dog. The owner should feel lucky that he didn’t shoot both dogs.
Having had my pelvis strangled by a boa constrictor, the owner is lucky he didn’t unleash any snakes on Officer Douchebag.
Yeah, thank goodness the dog didn’t rip open the cop’s other arm, right?
WOW! A lot of Monday morning quarterbacking from a whole bunch of mouth breathers who have 1: never worn a badge, 2: never been bitten by a large dog & 3: put the life of an ANIMAL above HUMAN F’ING BEINGS! For a bunch of gun owner-conservative types, you sicken me with the Green Peace’esq, tree hugging, LIBTARD rhetoric. I’m to the point of not even looking at TTAG anymore with the staffers cop hating rhetoric. (I ended up here while searching something not related to TTAG).
Hey TTAG staff, many cops are gun owners, NRA members and competitive shooters too! We value our rights as much as any citizen and with that; we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness just like the rest of you. Just because we’ve chosen law enforcement doesn’t make us bullet stoppers or dog toys anymore than US military personnel are expendable!!
I’ve seen this BS too many times- the loud mouths bitch and moan about the cops until they’re on the receiving end of a lunatic felon or a dog….boy, they can’t dial 911 fast enough and bitch about how long it took. Dogs are predators, they kill and maim daily *look at the news! Try doing my job for a while and you’ll see why we do what we do, but since that’s not going to happen, I won’t hold my breath…..
By calling into question the act of this particular cop doesn’t make one anti-cop. Each situation should be judged objectively & this PO’s acts were objectively excessive.
..well JB…for being a LEO…you certainly do not seem to understand your job description? The reason you are given special privileges within our society…the ability to carry and use your gun, taser, baton, etc… is because you are being paid to “take a bullet” if necessary…and when you took your oath…you promised to protect and defend the constitution…so silly-boy… if you didn’t understand that when you took the oath….who then is the “dupe”….or “mouth-breather”..as you like to refer to the people who employ your sorry ass…
You are an emotion-based, child-ego stated idiot who uses illegitimate authority and power to get yourself off …and I assume when that doesn’t work…you do so in the shower….?
RJ O’Guillory
Author-
Webster Groves – The Life of an Insane Family
LEOs are not the only ones who have to deal with dogs. Like I said in a previous post… I have been showing up at peoples houses for over twenty years and have had two occasions where I decided to retreat. Once was a Rottweiler, a dog known to be very protective of their families. But even that beast of a dog was friendly once introduced by the homeowner. I’ve been bitten once by a Dachshund. I made a mistake and turned my back to him. (True meaning of ankle biter.) The rest of them it was patience and a dog treat and approaching the dog or dogs at their pace. Everyone has to know their limitations meaning if you have had previous bad experiences with getting bit then either look for another way of accomplishing your mission. The UPS delivery driver was terrified of our two labs that were fenced by an electronic fence. They both had large voices, the best they could ever do would be to lick you or whip you with their tails to death. He honked his horn until we responded. We educated him to our dogs and showed him that they were harmless to him. After a time that man had dog treats with him and the dogs would jump in his truck to greet him. The problem I see here is a officer training issue. When you reach for your sidearm first and then can’t deal with a loud dog maybe its time to reconsider your profession.
I think it has gotten to the point where many LEOs have the us vs them mentality and thats a bad place for all of us to be. Please remember you as a LEO are a citizen like everyone of us but you have taken on a job that is difficult and therefore requires you to hold yourself to a higher standard because everything you do will be scrutinized. We the other citizens don’t like it when there are 2 sets of rules, one for us and then a special exceptions for you.
If I as a citizen got out of my car on a public street and shot my neighbors dog because I felt threatened by it as I was coming up the neighbors driveway to tell him to put his dogs up, they are being a nuisance would that be a good shoot? Self Defense right? I’d say I’d be clearing my calendar for some unexpected vacationing at the Gray Bar Hotel and I’d lose my 2nd Amendment rights. But if a wear a Badge …. Good Shoot. Right? /s
Oh and BTW to most dog owners there is no distinction between (domestic) animal and human. That’s my kid with fur. It is not a bear foaming at the mouth running at you.
It always interests me how everyone is so willing to be angry at people, and so loving of dogs. Was this overboard? Yup, probably. Do people in high stress situations (especially people with past experiences that have scarred them) make decisions that aren’t the best? Yep. It’s a dog, though. I love my dog. He’s my little bud and he’s great, but if he was aggressive with someone then it is what it is. My main issue is that they didn’t seem to be being aggressive.
Seems that it could have been a different outcome where everyone is happy, but one bad experience (especially on that lands you in the hospital) can change your life.
So you have a record of Hassani being hospitalized/treated for dog bite? If not, who’s assuming here?
I don’t, nor did I accuse anyone of assuming. You’re clearly a rude bastard, and that’s ok. I don’t really care, but I will say this: the dog is dead, and it should have been on a leash or a chain. When you are irresponsible, bad things can happen. Again, sad that it happened, but I’m a little bit more concerned with some “bigger than one dead dog with a shit owner” stuff today.
I’m happy you and Hassani didn’t live near Timmy and Lassie.
And also, I was under the impression that we were talking about the video. In this video he states “last time I was bit I ended up in the ER.” Not sure if it is true, but I have absolutely zero reasons to believe otherwise.
I wish the dog had bit him before that coward scumbag shot him.
Maybe there needs to be firearms training for dogs.
I don’t like to see any dog get shot, but the dogs were threatening him. He could have tried any number of other things, but the dogs were circling him and lunging. To call the cop a scum-bag is unfair.
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