K9 dies in hot car.

[talltex]

A reckless act means the person disregarded a risk he was aware of that a reasonable person would not. A negligent act is one where the person ignored a risk a reasonable person should have been aware of. So, if I were a DA, I would probably have used negligence as the charge if the law allowed it.

Regarding the required elements of the charges...reckless vs. negligent: I doubt that a week has gone by in the last 15 years, that I haven't heard at least one PSA or a news report reminding people of the dangers of leaving children or pets inside a hot car and pointing out that temperatures, inside the car, can rise to 140-150 degrees in just a few minutes with the windows up. Given that, it seems that anyone who does so, IS "disregarding a risk that they were aware of and that a reasonable person would not." As a trained K9 officer he should have been even MORE aware than most. It would be extremely hard to convince me that anyone was not aware of the risk. I agree that he probably thought he would be back in a few minutes and that it was not intentional...but it never is...and "intention" is not an element of the offense. All that being said, I also think, that in most circumstances...regardless of if it involves an LEO or a private citizen...that the charge would likely be pled down to the "negligent" level, because they realize it was NOT intentional, and the person charged is already suffering anguish over their negligent act.

[jmra]

Isn't a police dog considered a police officer? I wonder what I would be charged with if through my negligence a police dog (officer) died.

[texanjoker]

texanjoker this is not anti LEO nonsence. These are valid statement. yopu need to get the chip off your shoulder.

Sew Texas your coments are fine.

Excuse me?

Chip,

that borders a personal attack but that's ok, have at it Have you even read the article? Where does it state that the officer left the AC off? He left the dog in the car while in the station. What do you think one does with a police dog on patrol? The dog stays secured in the car. I even pointed out how one goes about keeping their dog safely in the car w/o issues. The only thing we know is that a dog died. We do not know if it was an equipment failure, if they had any safety devices on the car, screens on the windows, or if he was an idiot that left his dog in the car with no AC to die. I even said if he was negligent that would be a different matter. But hey if my wanting to see facts before I jump on the anti leo bandwagon upsets you have at it.

BENNETTSVILLE, South Carolina — A Bennettsville police officer has been suspended without pay for two months after his police dog died in a car of heat stroke.

Bennettsville Police Chief Larry McNeil says Officer Robert Miller will also be placed on probation for 90 days following the suspension and can no longer be a K-9 officer.

The chief said the dog, named Tank, died Monday when he was left in a patrol car with no water and the windows up as Miller went into the department to do some paperwork.

McNeil said Miller did not mean to stay as long as he did and immediately took the dog to a vet when he realized Tank was in trouble.

McNeil said an investigation found no criminal intent and no charges will be filed.

[Excaliber]

Here is another article on the incident.

Since a criminal investigation was conducted and the department found negligence severe enough to justify a 60 day suspension without pay and a 90 day probationary period, I think we can reasonably conclude that the dog didn't die from air conditioner failure or any other unforeseeable circumstance.

I well understand that police work is complex and requires lots of difficult decisions made under time pressure with only partial information, and one has to make some allowances for some of the things that don't turn out well when decisions were made in ambiguous circumstances.

This isn't one of those circumstances.

The findings of the criminal investigation were that the officer negligently killed the department's only bomb sniffing canine.

There's no whitewashing that.

[tbrown]

I am sure that if a department would charge a citizen then they should charge the officer also.

I wish I shared your faith in the justice system.

[mojo84]

Texanjoker, do you think the chief would have punished the officer if he had done the proper thing? Since the chief said he left the dog in the car with the windows up, was in the station longer than he expected, the dog suffered heat stroke, then died and the officer was punished, I don't suspect the officer did what he should have done nor what you want to give him the benefit of the doubt of doing.

Logic has to apply sometimes in spite of the brotherly bond you officers share. Also, when a mere citizen criminal is being roasted on here, why not come to their defence and claim here we go again with the mere citizen subject bashing?

[C-dub]

Police Chief Larry McNeil of the Bennettsville, South Carolina police department told Carolina Live the officer left Tank, a black Labrador Retriever, in a car with the engine off and the windows rolled up on Monday.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/1 ... 67699.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Still don't know if this is true or not, but if it is it sure points towards negligence. Of course, I don't think the officer intentionally left his partner in there to die, but how many people that have been charged for doing this same thing did either?

[srothstein]

I am sure that if a department would charge a citizen then they should charge the officer also.

I wish I shared your faith in the justice system.

Check the difference int he two words in red. It was not faith in the way the system does work but a belief in how it should work.

[bdickens]

texanjoker this is not anti LEO nonsence. These are valid statement. yopu need to get the chip off your shoulder.

Sew Texas your coments are fine.

Excuse me?

Chip,

that borders a personal attack but that's ok, have at it Have you even read the article? Where does it state that the officer left the AC off? He left the dog in the car while in the station. What do you think one does with a police dog on patrol? The dog stays secured in the car. I even pointed out how one goes about keeping their dog safely in the car w/o issues. The only thing we know is that a dog died. We do not know if it was an equipment failure, if they had any safety devices on the car, screens on the windows, or if he was an idiot that left his dog in the car with no AC to die. I even said if he was negligent that would be a different matter. But hey if my wanting to see facts before I jump on the anti leo bandwagon upsets you have at it.

BENNETTSVILLE, South Carolina — A Bennettsville police officer has been suspended without pay for two months after his police dog died in a car of heat stroke.

Bennettsville Police Chief Larry McNeil says Officer Robert Miller will also be placed on probation for 90 days following the suspension and can no longer be a K-9 officer.

The chief said the dog, named Tank, died Monday when he was left in a patrol car with no water and the windows up as Miller went into the department to do some paperwork.

McNeil said Miller did not mean to stay as long as he did and immediately took the dog to a vet when he realized Tank was in trouble.

McNeil said an investigation found no criminal intent and no charges will be filed.

[response deleted]

[texanjoker]

Texanjoker, do you think the chief would have punished the officer if he had done the proper thing? Since the chief said he left the dog in the car with the windows up, was in the station longer than he expected, the dog suffered heat stroke, then died and the officer was punished, I don't suspect the officer did what he should have done nor what you want to give him the benefit of the doubt of doing.

Logic has to apply sometimes in spite of the brotherly bond you officers share. Also, when a mere citizen criminal is being roasted on here, why not come to their defence and claim here we go again with the mere citizen subject bashing?

Mojo, calling for more info isn't backing somebody due to a "brotherly bond." It is wanting more info. Unfortunately in here people assume it means something it isn't. I won't jump on the bandwagon because of an article that didn't have enough fact. I wanted to know if the engine/ac was on as that made a world of difference between equipment failure or negligence. Now that I have learned more I can say that this officer bad. He is a disgrace to k9 handlers across the nation. Had he followed simple procedure the k9 would be alive today. They did the right thing by kicking him out of the unit. I am not sure why they didn't prosecute him, but I don't know their state statute. I would have supported him being prosecuted if he met their statute. Other facts I would like to know would be how long he worked a dog. A new handler may not be used to leaving the motor running, which could make negligence harder to prove. We also don't know why he was in the station. Had he responded to another officer needed help with a drunk would be different then writing a report. I can say that a 3 month suspension is probably a greater fine then what the court would have imposed. That jurisdiction may not prosecute anybody for this type of crime. As I stated before, I have personally seen an officer I knew prosecuted for just this.

[Excaliber]

Texanjoker, do you think the chief would have punished the officer if he had done the proper thing? Since the chief said he left the dog in the car with the windows up, was in the station longer than he expected, the dog suffered heat stroke, then died and the officer was punished, I don't suspect the officer did what he should have done nor what you want to give him the benefit of the doubt of doing.

Logic has to apply sometimes in spite of the brotherly bond you officers share. Also, when a mere citizen criminal is being roasted on here, why not come to their defence and claim here we go again with the mere citizen subject bashing?

Mojo, calling for more info isn't backing somebody due to a "brotherly bond." It is wanting more info. Unfortunately in here people assume it means something it isn't. I won't jump on the bandwagon because of an article that didn't have enough fact. I wanted to know if the engine/ac was on as that made a world of difference between equipment failure or negligence. Now that I have learned more I can say that this officer bad. He is a disgrace to k9 handlers across the nation. Had he followed simple procedure the k9 would be alive today. They did the right thing by kicking him out of the unit. I am not sure why they didn't prosecute him, but I don't know their state statute. I would have supported him being prosecuted if he met their statute. Other facts I would like to know would be how long he worked a dog. A new handler may not be used to leaving the motor running, which could make negligence harder to prove. We also don't know why he was in the station. Had he responded to another officer needed help with a drunk would be different then writing a report. I can say that a 3 month suspension is probably a greater fine then what the court would have imposed. That jurisdiction may not prosecute anybody for this type of crime. As I stated before, I have personally seen an officer I knew prosecuted for just this.

One of the articles said he'd been in K9 with the same dog for 3 years.

[texanjoker]

Excaliber,

(didn't want a longer post)

A 3 year handler should know better . I read many LEO articles daily away from here. There are some things I can forgive as I remember a leo is human. I cannot forgive allowing your dog to die in this manner unless there was an emergency . I have not read about any. I read the 2 articles and still have personal questions. If I met him I would have to ask the tough question: what the heck were you thinking? That is probably from my working 2 patrol k9's and being a police k9 elevator. Everyday I wish could take my now retired patrol k9 to work. I know he wishes he could go as well but unfortunately he is now an old man with a mind that doesn't believe it. He would rather be hunting a felon or finding some dope then chasing birds around the back yard, which is his new hobby to pass the time. I am only assuming, but I guess with his lab he didn't have the bond a patrol handler has. Finding dope is not the same as searching for an armed suspect and maybe he didn't value his dog as highly as my partners and I valued our dogs. Patrol teams hunt for the bad of the bad and you trust your dog. TYD has saved my bacon and my partners bacon time and time again. Fortunately he will no longer work a k9. On a positive note he obviously told the truth vs. lying about equipment failure. That could be part of the reason for the large 90 day suspension vs. prosecution. I imagine had he lied he would be rightly fired.

[Excaliber]

Excaliber,

(didn't want a longer post)

A 3 year handler should know better . I read many LEO articles daily away from here. There are some things I can forgive as I remember a leo is human. I cannot forgive allowing your dog to die in this manner unless there was an emergency . I have not read about any. I read the 2 articles and still have personal questions. If I met him I would have to ask the tough question: what the heck were you thinking? That is probably from my working 2 patrol k9's and being a police k9 elevator. Everyday I wish could take my now retired patrol k9 to work. I know he wishes he could go as well but unfortunately he is now an old man with a mind that doesn't believe it. He would rather be hunting a felon or finding some dope then chasing birds around the back yard, which is his new hobby to pass the time. I am only assuming, but I guess with his lab he didn't have the bond a patrol handler has. Finding dope is not the same as searching for an armed suspect and maybe he didn't value his dog as highly as my partners and I valued our dogs. Patrol teams hunt for the bad of the bad and you trust your dog. TYD has saved my bacon and my partners bacon time and time again. Fortunately he will no longer work a k9. On a positive note he obviously told the truth vs. lying about equipment failure. That could be part of the reason for the large 90 day suspension vs. prosecution. I imagine had he lied he would be rightly fired.

I understand.

I raised and trained German Shepherds for many years and had 5 of them as my loyal companions. I just could not imagine leaving one of them in a car for any reason, and it really tears me up to read about something like what the LEO did here.

There is a special bond between a man who protects a dog and the dog who protects the man. The dog gives his all every day and asks nothing in return except basic sustenance and kindness. It takes a particularly hard heart to harm such a loyal friend, and I have no tolerance for those who do.

[westex1948]

Now its happened in Harris County, TX
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas ... cmpid=hpts

"K-9 officers at the Harris County Sheriff's Office are mourning the loss of one of their own - a canine that died last week after being accidentally left inside a hot patrol car by its partner.

From all indications, the bomb-sniffing K-9 died from heat exhaustion, said Alan Bernstein, the sheriff's director of public affairs."

[C-dub]

That is very unfortunate, but seems different. It really seems like he simply forgot the dog was in there. I wonder if the dog was asleep in the back when he arrived home and that's why he was forgotten.