Inaugural Dog Behavior for Law Enforcement Class in Hawthorne 2015-Google Images/Daily Breeze |
Once again a family pet was gunned down.
Yesterday, March
29th a Garden Grove
police officer shot and killed Jax, a 2-year-old Pit Bull Terrier, the family
pet of Steve Pudiquet, while they were at his residence executing a search
warrant for illegal drugs.
They knew in
advance that there would be a dog, Jax, on the scene and brought a fire
extinguisher and catch pole with them to handle him.
First, despite
the fact that some self-proclaimed experts suggest a fire extinguisher in this
instance, most real experts disagree. Spraying the dog often enrages him and
could cause him to race, blinded by the chemicals, in all directions, out of
control, and endanger all in the vicinity including passersby. Frequently, the
officers spray and blind each other instead. More important, this could set up a
need to use lethal force not present at the outset.
Second, a catch
pole requires a lot of training and constant practice to use effectively.
Third, just as
you would not send officers to a drug raid with only one or two guns to share,
sending a group with one tool does not help the other officers at the scene
should they need to defend themselves. Training ALL officers in appropriate
canine threat assessment and adapting a command presence that is more
appropriate for dogs is essential for them to minimize the need for lethal
force.
There is a POST
certified course, offered by spcaLA that does just that. “Dog
Behavior for Law Enforcement.” was developed specifically with law enforcement
in mind, and offers real-life scenarios to meet the needs of officers. “Dog
Behavior for Law Enforcement” is certified by the Commission on Peace Officer
Standards and Training (POST) which gives participants continuing education
credits for course completion. The course is reinforced with the most current
and credible information available from an array of recognized, respected
leaders in animal science fields.
There are
questions here that need answering.
Why did they not
ask our humane officers or animal control officers to accompany them for the
sole purpose of expertly handling the dog? They had the luxury of time to
plan as this was a warrant execution unlike a surprise encounter. A bad plan
doesn't count.
Did one officer
shoot five times or did five officers shoot once? Approximately five bullets
were shot into the dog. Shooting that many shots is a threat to the public and
each other as they can miss or the bullets can ricochet and wound an innocent bystander
of another officer. A bullet might also injure the dog but not stop him from
becoming angry and more dangerous. When they retrieve the bullets during
the necropsy we will know the answer to this question.
There are times
that an officer must use lethal force to protect him or herself. Nobody is
quarreling with that. Where the officers find themselves criminally and civilly
liable is when the justification for lethal force is not present. When this
happens an otherwise righteous law enforcement action becomes a payday for a
criminal and everyone suffers. Hence my last question - why don't they help
themselves?
If anyone out
there has video of the actual shooting event please send it to us at
info@spcaLA.com. We would love to analyze it and incorporated into the training
class.
Pet lives
matter.
I agree with you, I don't understand why animal control did not go with them. Using a fire extinguisher makes no sense. Did they try pepper spray? Did they decide it was a pit bull so it is a bad dog? Whenever there is a dog involved, these situations almost always end badly for the dog. Yes, pet lives matter!!!!
ReplyDeletethis is a video we did about Jax.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/lindatillotson2/videos/286357528454485/