PR nightmare: with no dead dog ... and a proper warrant.... This is no story, no PR nightmare or big pay out.


Trial To Begin Monday In Lawsuit Over Dog

Fatally Shot By Hartford Police

HARTFORD — —

Two city police officers are being sued on a claim that they shot a family dog in front of its 12-year-old owner after entering the backyard of her Enfield Street residence without a warrant.

Police claimed that a snarling St. Bernard charged at them when they went into the yard to investigate a report that guns were stashed in a vehicle there.

Glen Harris, who is listed as the minor's guardian, filed the federal lawsuit in 2008 against the city of Hartford and two officers who were at the 2006 shooting scene, Officers John O'Hare and Anthony Pia. Pia is now a detective. Harris' lawyer, Jon L. Schoenhorn, declined to comment, citing the upcoming trial.

Calls to O'Hare, Pia and other police staff were not returned. The lawyer representing the officers, Thomas R. Gerarde, also could not be reached.

According to court documents, the Harris family had two St. Bernards that were "good-tempered and obedient" and "never bit anyone."

The 12-year-old, a girl identified only as "K.H." in court documents, had developed a special relationship with one of the dogs, named Seven.

"She felt she could talk to him and that he would listen, understand, and comfort her in a way that no one else could," a court memorandum states.

On Dec. 20, 2006, according to the memorandum, O'Hare and Pia walked into the Harris' backyard at 297 Enfield St. without a warrant. As they rounded the back corner of the house, they saw a St. Bernard, Seven, begin to move toward them. They turned and ran back the way they came, along the north side of the house, toward the front yard, the document states.

The girl ran around the other side of the house "in an effort to head off Seven's path through the front yard," it states. The girl heard two shots before she got to the front yard.

When she arrived, she saw O'Hare standing over Seven, who had fallen to the ground. The dog was breathing heavily and his tail was wagging weakly, the document states. She screamed, "Don't shoot my dog."

According to the document, "O'Hare looked at K.H., then back to the dog, and shot the dog in the head." The girl ran to the dog, screaming and crying, after which O'Hare told her, "Sorry, miss, but your dog isn't going to make it," it states.

The third bullet caused the dog's death, the memorandum states. The document states that the girl had suicidal thoughts after the shooting and was hospitalized.

The suit accuses the officers of conducting an "illegal search," calling their presence a "warrantless invasion." With the exception of the driveway, the entire property is enclosed by fences or gates, and there were three "Beware of Dog" signs posted on the property, it states.

But according to a nine-page incident report filed by police, O'Hare and Pia had received a tip from a reliable source that two handguns were stashed in an abandoned vehicle in the backyard of 297 Enfield St. They went into the yard about 3:20 p.m., and a large, full-grown St. Bernard "immediately began to bark and snarl," the report states.

Both officers ran toward the front of the house with the dog in pursuit. Pia was able to get to a sidewalk on the other side of a fence, but O'Hare ended up in the front yard "with the dog running directly at him," it states.

O'Hare was unable to elude the dog, the report states, which was "showing its teeth." He pointed his gun at it and yelled for it to get back, but the dog only hesitated momentarily before advancing again, it states.

The dog lunged at O'Hare, who fired three times, hitting it in the head and chest from 3 feet away, the report states.

Pia said the dog was trying to bite O'Hare's legs as he was running.

The report says nothing about a pause between the second and third shots or the girl witnessing the shooting — a point the defendants are expected to contest in court.

The suit claims that O'Hare's actions were "so extreme, callous and outrageous that they fell outside the scope of acceptable police behavior," in violation of the due-process clause of the Constitution.

It also claims that they entered the property illegally and that O'Hare intentionally inflicted emotional distress.

The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as legal fees.

A senior assistant corporation counsel for the city, Nathalie Feola-Guerrieri, said, "The city is confident that the officers will be found to have acted justifiably under the circumstances."

 

 

what happens if a cop gives a speeding ticket to someone with a dog in the car that is barky or protective of the car? or a bit nervous ? just curious

?

My guess is there hasn't been any problems with Dogs in vehicles. God knows one of the informinational hypochondriacs would have googled a story and posted it by now if one existed.

Lets meet Ninja181's: 

informinational hypochondriacs

Do throw up up your resume, when you get a moment. So we can look at each fairly.

Bernard K. Melekian was announced as the Director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) by Attorney General Eric Holder on October 5, 2009. As Director of the COPS Office, Melekian leads an organization responsible for working closely with the nation’s state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies to enhance the safety of communities by advancing community policing.  Director Melekian is committed to using COPS Office programs and resources to help law enforcement build relationships and solve problems, which he views as the cornerstone of effective community policing.

Mr. Melekian was the Police Chief for the City of Pasadena, California for more than 13 years before assuming leadership of the COPS Office. He also served with the Santa Monica Police Department for 23 years where he was awarded the Medal of Valor in 1978 and the Medal of Courage in 1980.

Director Melekian has been the recipient of numerous awards, and is recognized as a leader whose commitment to the advancement of community policing is built on years of patrol experience and a strong record of incorporating the needs of the community into police operations.  In April, 2010 he was awarded the prestigious National Public Service Award by the American Society for Public Administration and the National Academy of Public Administration.

Melekian has served as the acting Fire Chief and Interim City Manager for the City of Pasadena.  He was Chairman of the California Attorney General’s Blue Ribbon Committee on SWAT Policy, and is the former President of the 2009 Los Angeles County and California Police Chiefs Associations.  Mr. Melekian has also served on the National Board of Directors of the Police Executive Research Forum.

Director Melekian holds a Bachelor’s degree in American History and a Master’s degree in Public Administration, both from California State University at Northridge.  He is currently a doctoral candidate in Public Policy at the University of Southern California, and a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the California Command College.

Director Melekian served in the United States Army from 1967 to 1970.  As a member of the United States Coast Guard Reserve, he was called to active duty in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm and served in Saudi Arabia. Melekian served a second tour of active duty in 2003.  He retired from the Coast Guard Reserves in 2009, after 28 years of service.

Lets meet Ninja181's:  informinational hypochondriacs

CHEIF OF POLICE

Charles "Chuck" Harmon

"In response to the outcry following the shooting of a 12-year-old golden retriever named Boomer, St. Petersburg Chief of Police Charles Harmon announced changes in the Florida department’s policy on responding to animal calls and use of deadly force on animals" .



Chief Harmon joined the city's Police Department in 1982, and was named police chief in 2001. He oversees all police operations for Florida's fourth largest city, a department with 805 sworn and non-sworn positions in three bureaus: Investigative Services, Uniform Services, and Administrative Services. In 2003, he oversaw the departments fourth national reaccreditation and first state accreditation. 

He holds associate's degrees in general studies and criminal justice from Brevard Community College, a bachelor's degree in criminology from Florida State University and a master's degree in public administration from Troy State University. He is a graduate of Leadership St. Pete. 

Chief Harmon is honorary executive director of the St. Petersburg Athletic League and is on the boards of the Enterprise Zone Development Agency and the Tampa Bay Area Police Chiefs Association. He serves on the Southeastern Public Safety Institute Advisory Committee and volunteers with the Urban League Crime Run, American Heart Association and community paint projects.

Its been stated plenty of times that although many on this forum find dogs to be replaceable property, that is not the norm with most owners. I stated earlier that for a straight PR reason and the need for community respect that changes should be made, from a police standpoint. Policing a community that has low/no respect for those policing is a much much harder job.

 

This article I believe proves my point to the nature of the relationship between dogs and humans, for the majority of people. Further, I believe it also shows how quickly incidents like those posted can turn on the policing department. 

 

My point here is even if dogs are property in a policing mind it should be on the mind of those policing how quickly your community support and respect can change on dime with these types of incidents. 

 

Recently thousands of central texans lined streets in an unprecedented show of support during the funeral procession of senior patrol officer Jaime Padron, who was fatally shot while answering a call about an intoxicated person.

 

Just a few days later with most texans still rallying behind this fallen officer, Cisco was shot in his own home in error. Now the police chief has this to say.

 

Police Chief Art Acevedo was critical Wednesday of what he called a "mob mentality" response to the incident: "People are calling us and directing profanity-laced insults and threats toward our employees in writing and on telephone calls."

 

Texas state government has never in my opinion been thinned skinned. It is still my bet though that I will also be posting this police chiefs resume to the list of informational hypochondriacs soon. 

 

Its simply not worth the damage from a departments standpoint, that can be caused in a blink of an eye, to continue with willy nilly. 

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/backlash-over-officers-shooting-of-dog-prompts-policy-2313588.html

Here we go again:

http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/05/28/3991473/owners-of-dog-killed-by-officer.html

http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-family-dog-shot-and-killed-after-fort-worth-poice-officer-responds-to-the-wrong-address-20120527,0,2162589.story

http://fayobserver.com/articles/2012/05/25/1180253?sac=fo.local 

All these seems recent, too bad the owners didn't discover this thread started on April 26, 2012.  If they had, their dogs might still be alive.  I'd say this thread should become a PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT .  But hey, there's no "unspoken" LEO policy to shoot dogs on private property, afterall WOULDN'T ANYONES LIFE BE IN DANGER, IF A 17 POUND DOG PUT TWO HOLES IN YOUR WORK PANTS!!! 

so he shot a little border collie mix and the excuse was the police thought it was a pitbull?


The people on this forum will make some more excuses for him watch.

Here we go again:

It never really stops, per se. Just little interest in talking or doing anything about it, here in this forum at least. But if the story below turns out to be accurate, now a sleeping dog has been shot, and as I stated earlier that was one of the only state of being, left. Chained, caged, fenced, noosed, crated, leashed, running away and now sleeping, so we are now complete. 

 

But who cares, move along nothing to see here. I received a PM earlier in this thread stating no interest in this topic on this forum because it would/could endanger peoples income. Thats the american way now a days.

"Individually focused yet collectively adrift" America 

 

Admin edit: Picture removed for graphic content.
Warning link is graphic and may be disturbing to some   http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/481214_10150867658312950_507027949_9871576_1462149651_n.jpg




A St. Francois County, Missouri Police officer did this to my friends' dog while he was asleep on the porch. They didn't think this friend was home at the time. The cop pepper sprayed the dog then shot him through the roof of his mouth. Please help us put a stop to the animal cruelty displayed by our local law enforcement. The dog is missing several teeth and has a shattered jaw but is pulling through for now. Lawyers have been contacted, action is being taken. Please help us see to it that this "police officer" is held responsible for his actions.