Sheriff let's k9 die in hot car

A k9 cop in my town Got home from work and leaves his dog in the car.
4 hours later we have a dead dog.

www.google.com...

www.google.com...

So here's the question...s

What's the proper punishment?
Is this killing a police officer?
Does this deserve a harsher punishment because of the offender being a cop?

Thoughts ats?

This just makes me want to cry.

I feel bad for the human Police officer. He's gotta be tore up.

Sad Day.

And No. I do not think punishing the LEO will do anything.

Maybe more training.

a reply to: Bluntone22

Oh my
This will get ugly...
abcnews.go.com...

Under the Federal Law Enforcement Animal Protection Act, which went into effect this week, anyone convicted of purposely assaulting, maiming, or killing federal law enforcement animals such as police dogs and horses could be fined at least $1,000 and spend up to 10 years in prison. Previously, the animals were covered by a variety of state, rather than federal, laws.

So I guess 1k and up to 10 years in the pokey?

a reply to: Bluntone22

I say lock him in the back of a police car for a whole day. If he lives he can avoid prison and just lose his job.

If he dies, well it's squared out then.

a reply to: crappiekat

He wasn't torn up enough about leaving a dog in a car hot enough to kill it... my guess he is only torn up about legal ramifications.

A Gross Negligence charge on top of any civil punishment at the very least.

Poor pupper.

The dept has some liability for entrusting the dog to an unqualified officer. Probably a booty call if I had a guess.

a reply to: shooterbrody

I think that the key word (well, I KNOW that the key word) is "purposefully."

According to the reason why he forgot about the dog, this animal was not purposefully harmed, but I guess the investigation is still pending.

I'm with Crappiekat on this one.

I have always felt that police should be held to a higher standard.
We are always told how great they are and how much respect they deserve so to me that deserves harsher punishment.

From my understanding police K9's receive more training than the average officer. So yes this was the death of an officer. The question was it ignorance or neglect that caused the death?

On an equally sad side note I had to grab some fishing supplies at my local Walmart(which I try and avoid at all costs). I noticed this in the door.
We live in a society where people need a sign to remind them if they left their offspring in a hot car... Sooo yeah.

originally posted by: luthier
The dept has some liability for entrusting the dog to an unqualified officer. Probably a booty call if I had a guess.

I had heard a new baby but I'm not sure.
Like I said this is local so rumor mill.

Lots of possibilities here:
Rushed home for some emergency and forgot.
Didn't like the dog and wanted to get rid of it.
Not sure how easy it would be to forget your K9 partner unless it was asleep.
Not in his shoes though, let the courts have their way.

a reply to: Antipathy17

Oh, so you know the officer personally and have discussed the situation with him?

a reply to: Bluntone22

Absolutely deserves to be treated as if he killed an officer... Negligent manslaughter at the bare minimum. If they expect to keep charging people with assault on an officer and other charges with very high penalties when criminals harm the K9 officers then they should be held to the same standard. Period!

a reply to: Bluntone22

It would help if it were not a thankless profession. I think the jobs with more statistical risk need higher pay and much better training, in some cases similar to tactical awareness in battlefields, the police are long overdue for a restructure. Special domestic violence trained cops, specialized gang units, public outreach beat cops, should be a norm and the pay should reflect the amount of training those things require. Which is pretty hefty.

You don't like paying higher taxes for better trained cops then get more involved in public schools and youth outreach.

The reality is a cop without regular tactical training in marksmanship, hand to hand, and observation is going to make a bad call often even if they aren't bad people. It's also reality very few officers get that training or pay. And there are leos/unions....

a reply to: SlapMonkey

This law has been updated...
www.law.cornell.edu...-us_code_temp_noupdates
(a) Whoever willfully and maliciously harms any police animal, or attempts or conspires to do so, shall be fined under this title and imprisoned not more than 1 year. If the offense permanently disables or disfigures the animal, or causes serious bodily injury to or the death of the animal, the maximum term of imprisonment shall be 10 years.
(b) In this section, the term “police animal” means a dog or horse employed by a Federal agency (whether in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch) for the principal purpose of aiding in the detection of criminal activity, enforcement of laws, or apprehension of criminal offenders.

So I guess it would depend on if it was "willfully and maliciously" done.
I don't think the officer intended to kill the dog, but neither do the perps.
I don't think he should get 10 years but, he should get some time.
The animal is "special" enough to get a specific protection law, was the officer not bound to protect it?

a reply to: Bluntone22

Something almost identical to this happened here in Georgia last summer. That cop was arrested and faced felony charges, and it later came out that one or two other dogs had previously "died" under his care or watch.

I still don't get how people can become so distracted that they leave pets or children in the car.

What should happen? Charges for negligent manslaughter at least, no more K9 duty, and more training.

In many states, killing a police dog is considered killing a police officer.

So, this guy is a cop-killer.

originally posted by: Bluntone22

originally posted by: luthier
The dept has some liability for entrusting the dog to an unqualified officer. Probably a booty call if I had a guess.

I had heard a new baby but I'm not sure.
Like I said this is local so rumor mill.

Frankly I am a little concerned for his child, hopefully he can remember to not leave it in the car.