Another Day, Another Dead Dog At The Wrong House

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Aesop
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Re: Another Day, Another Dead Dog At The Wrong House

Post by Aesop »

Good DAs would be helpful in theory, but the sum total who have actually prosecuted officers who shoot dogs without legitimate cause from the founding of the republic to date, is likely a whole number between zero, and how many thumbs I have.

If shooting a dog without any danger to life or limb were treated as the felony animal cruelty offence it is for the rest of us, and we had 500 officers doing hard time for it like they should on the first instance, it would be a good start.

We're far past that point.

The rapidly shrinking pool of solid officers is probably far beyond the tipping point where they can rein in the abuses of 75% of their fellows.

This will end in tears, and no small amount of blood.
And the police in this country, on the whole, will have brought it down on their own heads when it happens, because they thought they weren't us, and believed in their souls that badges grant special rights and privileges, rather than special responsibilities and duties.

Maybe, 100 years, they can change that.
But wanting to (more than they want to be Special Snowflakes) would be a healthy place to start, and right now, that simply isn't the case.
"There are four types of homicide: felonious, accidental, justifiable, and praiseworthy." -Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
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Catbird
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Re: Another Day, Another Dead Dog At The Wrong House

Post by Catbird »

Update: One year later...
From: xxxxx xxxxxx [mailto:xxxxxxxxx@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, August 08, 2016 11:17 AM
To: Estep, Tyler (CMG-Atlanta) <Tyler.Estep@coxinc.com>
Subject: Dekalb police wrong-house shooting


Dear Mr. Estep,

I have been checking up on a story you wrote last year about an incident where police shot Chris Mckinley and his dog while investigating a possible burglary. I have seen nothing in the media since last September. I have some questions which I hope you can answer for me.

Have Mr. Mckinley and Officer Jones recovered from their injuries?

Has the Georgia Bureau of Investigation completed their investigation of the incident?

Are there any pending or settled legal actions related to this?

Have the Dekalb police changed their training, policies or procedures because of this incident?

What justification do the police give for entering a private home and using deadly force under these circumstances?

If there has already been a follow up to this story that I missed, would you please point me in that direction?

Thank You.

Xxxxx Xxxxxx
Seattle, WA


Niesse, Mark (CMG-Atlanta) <Mark.Niesse@ajc.com>

Aug 12 (2 days ago)

to Richard, me, Tyler

Mr. Xxxxxx,

Channel 2 Action News, which is the AJC’s news partner, followed up on this story yesterday. Many of your questions are answered in the article: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/crime-law/ ... ers/nsDtB/

Thank you.

Mark Niesse

DeKalb County Reporter

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

404-526-2848

Twitter: @dekalbnewsnow and @markniesse


From: Estep, Tyler (CMG-Atlanta)
Sent: Monday, August 08, 2016 11:20 AM
To: !CMG - AJC Atlanta Now <Atlantanow@ajc.com>; Halicks, Richard (CMG-Atlanta) <Richard.Halicks@ajc.com>; Niesse, Mark (CMG-Atlanta) <Mark.Niesse@ajc.com>
Subject: FW: Dekalb police wrong-house shooting

Passing along, for what it’s worth…
The couple has spent the past year seeking answers from a department that has yet to even apologize or offer a clear explanation about how the incident involving their three uniformed officers went so wrong. Chris McKinley underwent months of physical and emotional therapy as he’s tried to recover from the violent episode.


The couple says the officers never even tried to help Chris McKinley after shooting him. They seemed more concerned about one of their own officers, who was also hit by the police gunfire.


Police admit they were at the wrong house, but when they wrote out the incident report, they listed the wounded officer as the victim and Chris McKinley as the offender.


Police conducted an internal investigation, which they’ve yet to release. Investigators haven’t spoken to the couple since the night of the incident.

“I would have thought that if they were going to perform an investigation they would ask the victims, and nothing, not a word this entire year,” said Chris McKinley

DeKalb Police Chief James Conroy said his heart goes out to the McKinley family and confirmed that his department did do a review of the incident. He said he could not comment on specific details of what happened because of potential litigation.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation finished its review of the case last September, but has refused to release the file as the case is still pending in the DeKalb District Attorney’s office.

Wow.
"If at first you don't succeed, that's one data point." XKCD
Langenator
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Re: Another Day, Another Dead Dog At The Wrong House

Post by Langenator »

At the most basic level of the police screw up, how did they manage to go from a report of a suspicious person outside to being in someone's house in the first place?

The DA does find himself having to choose between unpalatable options. On one hand, the cops screwed up by the numbers, shooting an innocent citizen in the process. They need to be charged with something. (I'd start with Tresspassing, Criminal Mischief (killing the dog) and Agg. Assault if it was in Texas.)

On the other hand, he's most likely generally pro-police, and especially after events like Dallas doesn't want to be seen as jumping on the anti-police bandwagon. Or maybe, sine DeKalb is 54% black, he's afraid that the voters will only think he cares because the cops shot a white guy.
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D5CAV
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Re: Another Day, Another Dead Dog At The Wrong House

Post by D5CAV »

It sounds like Mr. McKinley is about a year late in filing a lawsuit. There are statutes of limitations.

If the DeKalb police chief is worried about litigation risks, he should realize he is facing lethal risks in the current environment.

There's an old saying "If you don't clean up your yard, your neighbors might do it for you, and your treasures might get tossed out with your trash."
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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Catbird
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Re: Another Day, Another Dead Dog At The Wrong House

Post by Catbird »

Here is the TV news report from WSB Channel 2 Action News.

>>>LINK<<<

(Scroll down to the bottom of the article for a second video.)
"If at first you don't succeed, that's one data point." XKCD
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mekender
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Re: Another Day, Another Dead Dog At The Wrong House

Post by mekender »

D5CAV wrote:It sounds like Mr. McKinley is about a year late in filing a lawsuit. There are statutes of limitations.
General personal injury time frame in GA is 2 years... But with there being a possibility of federal civil rights allegations, the state level may not matter at all.
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
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Jered
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Re: Another Day, Another Dead Dog At The Wrong House

Post by Jered »

How herp-a-derp is your police department if it doesn't even fire the cop who can't even hit the correct side in a firefight?

It was probably the uniformed patrol division, so, how hard is it to NOT SHOOT THE GUY THAT COPIED YOUR OUTFIT?
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Netpackrat
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Re: Another Day, Another Dead Dog At The Wrong House

Post by Netpackrat »

Unless it was the same cop that shot the (completely innocent) homeowner, the cop who shot the other cop shot the right side.
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Jered
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Re: Another Day, Another Dead Dog At The Wrong House

Post by Jered »

Netpackrat wrote:Unless it was the same cop that shot the (completely innocent) homeowner, the cop who shot the other cop shot the right side.
If I had to bet, I would guess that it was.

If it wasn't, that's jumping right past full retard, and going to potato.

By my comment, I'm not condoning the actions of the police. I merely meant to state that the cop that shot the other cop can't even tell who's on his side in a gunfight, when they're wearing the same damn outfit. That's a lower standard of training and marksmanship than aloha snackbar jihadi scum.
The avalanche has already started. It is too late for the pebbles to vote.
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Catbird
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Re: Another Day, Another Dead Dog At The Wrong House

Post by Catbird »

You're assuming that the cop who was shot didn't shoot himself. All that's known for sure right now is that there are an injured cop, an injured homeowner, and a dead dog, with 1-3 cops doing all the shooting.
"If at first you don't succeed, that's one data point." XKCD
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