This... In America...

[mekender]

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyr ... ly_dog.php

[Greg]

Take the initial report with a grain of salt, is one thing recent events should have taught everyone.

Looking at this with a skeptical eye, these people are not what we would call credible. They show every sign of being trash and they probably have a long history of problems with the law, and with their landlords - they're renters who apparently have an indifferent attitude to paying their bills.

Their complaint may have merit, or it may not. From their behavior and prior actions, these are not people I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt. That said, the police don't get the benefit of the doubt, either. A couple too many jackbooted dogslayers have spoiled it for everyone.

This is an odd case, and the initial report has a bad smell to it. People really do occasionally set their dogs on people, these 'victims' are not purely innocent upstanding citizens... but even assholes have rights. We've heard (partially) exactly one side. Have to wait and see.

[randy]

Yeah. Don't know how things work in that location, but any place I've lived code enforcement does not involve LE officers unless there has been at a minimum threats made against inspectors.

Doesn't mean that the cops didn't overreact (why a SWAT team for a code violation? Why not a couple of deputies if all they needed to see if the lights came on and/or the furnace and stove worked? For that matter, why not drive by after dark some evening and see if any lights are on?), assuming a code dispute is all that is going on here, and I'm not convinced it is given the provided information.

[skb12172]

Using SWAT because someone is an asshole doesn't pass the smell test. Given the other SWAT atrocities around the country which have been verified, including the summary execution of the guy who had a misdemeanor warrant for allegedly stealing a Playstation, I'm going to go with the renters until credible evidence supporting the cops is made public. Nationally, the cops have made this bed. Too bad for them if they no longer get the benefit of my doubt.

[kapikui]

In reading the article, the SWAT apparently did some things that if true should land at least some of the officers on a prison block with everyone still in prison that might be upset at them. But I don't understand the reason for the swat team in the first place. Even in the most draconian dictatorship, you don't generally expend that kind of resource for a minor violation unless there has been significant resistance first. It isn't cost effective. There is most definitely something going on with the family that we're not hearing.

[Malthorn]

Be interesting to see what the warrant says.

[skb12172]

Not necessarily, because this type of stupid shit has been repeated by departments all over the country, dozens of times. It boils down to this. You spend the money acquiring and training with the SWAT stuff, you are going to want to use it. Furthermore, you will need to justify its existence to the bean counters by using it; even for misdemeanor warrants. Stupid it is, but easily explained.

[mekender]

Yea, I am taking it with a grain of salt... But the complaint suit is pretty disturbing. And the various blurbs from people who were not directly involved in the raid seem to back up the idea that it was conducted under the guise of a utilities complaint. That the woman, nor anyone else, was apparently not charged with anything other than code violations seems to also bolster the idea.

I do not care if they had reason to believe that the family had $100,000 in stolen property in the house, using a swat/tac team to do a no-knock needs to be reserved for times when there are active, armed standoff situations.

[skb12172]

It ranks up there with the current case where a superintendent had several parents arrested for cheering when their kids' name was called at graduation. Yes, it's tacky and annoying, but an arrest? A significant minority of the commenters on the article thought that was just fine.

[PawPaw]

The article doesn't pass the smell test. This one sentence gives me pause.

The dog "was laying on the floor in her own waste and blood struggling to breathe. She had a gaping hole in her chest."

Dogs aren't normally shot in the chest. They normally come in low and fast. The shots normally hit the neck or back at a downward angle, exiting through the belly. I doubt the dog had a "gaping hole in her chest."

If that one sentence is wrong, then it tends to cast doubt on the whole article. I'd love to see an autopsy on the dawg. Based on that one sentence, I'd bet that the dog is begging for kibble as I type this.