Police are Afraid of Pit Bulls - Dog killed in Laramie, WY
Below is a report follow-up report about an officer-involved shooting in Laramie, Wyoming where a pit bull was killed. Please read the story and then I will give you my thoughts.
Oct 5, 2009 8:12 am US/MountainPolice Issue Reports In Pit Bull Shooting Case
CHEYENNE, Wyo., (AP) ? The Laramie County Sheriff Department has released investigation reports into an officer shooting of a pit bull that indicates the deputy feared he would be hurt by the dog.
The department last week released reports on the Aug. 11 incident, but has declined making any additional public comment.
Spokesman Gerry Luce says the agency is keeping quiet due to potential legal fallout from the shooting.
Investigators say deputy Kenny Thomas pulled out his gun and shot the dog, named Buddy, because it was barking violently and charged within a foot of him. Thomas went to the home to serve an eviction notice.
Owner Mary Bolin, says Buddy was just barking and bouncing and didn’t deserve to die. She says her 17-year-old son was reaching for the 40-pound dog and was inches away when Thomas shot the dog.
http://cbs4denver.com/wireapnewswy/Laramie.County.Sheriff.2.1228062.html
Ok, let’s understand what has happened here. Cop goes to house to serve an eviction notice (a civil matter). Boy opens door. Dog runs out. Cop gets scared. Cop discharges firearm in neighborhood. Cop kills pit bull. That all sounds pretty simple, right? Wrong.
The underlying issue here is not whether the dog was aggressive the question is what motivated the officer to draw his sidearm and fire it in a neighborhood where innocent and otherwise uninvolved people live. The use of deadly force, i.e., firing live rounds, is serious business and should be restricted to times when the lives of people are in clear and present danger. A dog barking and moving toward an officer is not grounds to discharge a weapon. The Sheriff’s office is keeping quiet about the officer’s motivation which opens the matter to speculation. Did Deputy Kenny Thomas act according to policy? Does he have the adequate training and experience to determine if a dog is acting aggressively or just acting like a dog. Was he justified in killing Buddy, owned by Mary Bolin. Did his gunfire endanger Bolin’s son or other residents? These are all questions that must be answered.
According to a report on the incident published on Policeone.com, the department is being closed-lipped in preparation for litigation. In short, the Sheriff’s department is afraid that Bolin is going to sue them for killing her dog, and they should be afraid. In 2005, a resident in Richmond, CA was awarded $210,000 when police shot and killed a pit bull. In 1991 the same department was forced to shell out $500,000 for killing a pit bull. I wonder how much this will cost Laramie, WY.