Police Officer Kills K-9 Partner

[selzer]

I do not see this scenario as impossible. I remember another incident where a police officer tied the dog up and kicked it to death. Another one that disciplined it so harshly in a training class that it died.

Our sherriff's department has some k9 officers. They train their own dogs and one of the deputies is the trainer that leads the classes.

I think that this would work very well if the dogs were purchased already trained. Then all the guys would have some fun on Saturday morning, put the dogs through their paces, lay a track or pull out the bite suit, and then everyone could stop at someone's house for beers.

But with dogs purchased untrained, I think there is a lot of pressure on the handlers, the trainer and probably not the level of experience required to actually get all the dogs through all the training to the level of passing the state tests.

Most of this training is done on the police officer's own time. You may say that was there choice in becoming a k9 officer. But think about it. Cops are not very highly paid. Many work second jobs, and find that difficult due to swing shifts, etc. It is an hourly wage and working OT for free is a bitter pill. Taking a dog from zero to passing the state boards is an awful lot of unpaid OT. And it is not like these officers do not know that if the dog was purchased trained it would have cost the county/city ten or twenty thousand. They are not getting paid overtime for this training, and often they do not own the dog. Not an excuse to mistreat the dog though.

And lets discuss the breed here. Was this guy's experience all with GSDs prior to this dog? Four years ago, GSDs were the norm. They call this dog a Belgium Malinois Shepherd. Is it a BM or a BM/GSD cross? Either way, Malinois seem to be even more energetic and driven than sheps. Maybe this dog WAS a whole lot more dog than he was used to.

So I can see it happening. I wasn't there. That is what the jury is for. If he did kill that dog, then I say that six years is fine. But that is coming from a dog lover. Frankly, I do not really think that this should be in the court system, it should have been dealt with within the department with the people who know this guy. They should determine whether the guy is reprimanded or fired, and then whether or not charges should be filed.

If that is how this went about, and they determined that charges should be filed against this officer, then what he did was probably pretty extreme.

[selzer]

I think also that dogs chosen as police dogs are dogs that have strong hard temperaments. These are dogs that might be able to be decent companion animals with all positive training techniques employed, but I do not know if the common thought is that this will make reliable police dogs.

About a year ago, a little less when I was attending a puppy seminar put on by my vet, the lass session had a k9 officer come in with his dog. The dog was a nice black and red German showline dog who was 9 years old. The two things I remember about what he said about training was that one of the first things they do is go out and urinate on a tree -- not sure what female k9 officers do for this. They then do not allow the dog to pee over it. This supposedly shows the dog who is dominant.

The other thing was that he said over and over again not to be afraid to correct your dog. He said normally he would have a prong on the dog and he was demonstrating his correction which was very strong. A solid, hard, police dog type might need a strong correction like that, but my dogs never do.

But my dogs are not required to bite someone and to back off of biting someone, they are not required to jump and tackle people and to keep going even though the guy is fighting, punching, using a stick on them. I do not NEED the level of drop dead obedience that police dogs need to have.

So perhaps, I try not to be too critical of the techniques used by police officers to train these dogs.

I almost think that it would make more sense for the dogs to be purchased by the departments trained though. And training facilities should be required to maintain certain standards. I think puppies should be exposed to a variety of situations and people and not be skittish around any. I think that dog aggressive dogs should be avoided if possible. I think that there should be several handlers who handle the dog completely for a period weeks or months. This would help a department if the dog has to be reassigned. And I think that K9 officers should spend a week training with the dog before the dog is released to a program.

Of course I know nothing about training police dogs. I just think that the way many of the departments are doing it, to save a few bucks, can cause problems in the long run. Oh, and the sensor on the collar/officer to ensure that the dog's environment is safe would be a must in the world according to Sue.

[tonkatuff81]

Well.... The Felony charge was dropped by The State and Officer Cockfield was aquitted of the lesser charge by a jury of someone's peers.

It is very telling that other officers testifid against him regarding the act itself and Cockfields hatred of that particular dog. Cops don't normally testify against other cops except in the most egregious cases.

His 20 years on the force doesn't mean much to me. If he is incompetent, 20 years experience just means 1 year of experience suffered 20 times.

Now to the real pros at NYPD, NCPD, SCPD, and PANYNJPD (and many others) ..... give your friend an extra hug for Duke.

[CaliBoy]

I met a police officer who had to train a Belgian Malinois and he said that it was more involved and much more difficult for him than training the German Sherpherds which he had trained. He said it required much more patience and even still his BM had attacked him on the firing range once.

Some men do not know when they should not be around a dog anymore. They don't realize when they have humanized the dog to the point that they think the dog is mocking them and is being spiteful. I personally think a woman handles these moments in a more healthy way than a man. The response of an unstable man is to shake violently or beat the animal. Men have even done this to children.

I find the entire incident described in this article to be very believable and very sad. That the officer was found guilty of a lesser charge shows that others saw him as having gotten out of control.

[DFrost]

"Well.... The Felony charge was dropped by The State and Officer Cockfield was aquitted of the lesser charge by a jury of someone's peers"

Charges are dropped because they are not supported by the evidence. A jury acquits the person yet that's not good enough? It is our system and this officer utilized it. Funny how folks become upset when a police man exercises his rights. We didn't give them up when they gave us this badge.

At any rate, I don't know if he did it or not. Evidences seems to not support it and a jury didn't believe. I've seen a lot of trials and while I don't always think they get them right, it's still the system. I doubt OJ"s arguing too much.

I do find a few other comments interesting as well. Such as: "Most of this training is done on the police officer's own time." If that is the case, more power to them. However it's not necessary. Fair Labor and Standards Act (FLSA which is federal law) requires training be a compensated activity. FLSA also requires compensation if the dog is kenneled at the handler's residence.

"I think that this would work very well if the dogs were purchased already trained. "

Some Departments do buy trained dogs, others buy untrained and train them. I think it has more to do with the experience level in a department and the time available. The larger departments I"m familiar with buy untrained and train them themselve. That keeps a lot of sport nonsense out of PSD and produces a better dog for that department.

"But with dogs purchased untrained, I think there is a lot of pressure on the handlers, the trainer and probably not the level of experience required to actually get all the dogs through all the training to the level of passing the state tests."

there is a lot of pressure on handlers whether the dogs are trained or untrained. I would point out though, there are only two states in teh country that have mandatory "tests" for a dog. Most departments rely on outside certification agencies such as USPCA, NAPWDA etc. They establish standards that have been accepted in court. In addition, the "industry standard" recommends 16 hours per month in service training on a certified, working dog. Of course all training is heavily documented.

"The two things I remember about what he said about training was that one of the first things they do is go out and urinate on a tree -- not sure what female k9 officers do for this. They then do not allow the dog to pee over it. This supposedly shows the dog who is dominant."

I have to admit, 45 years in the business and this is a first. I've heard the stories of how we get drug dogs addicted to drugs, feed them gunpowder, beat them till they are mean, etc etc, etc. This is a first. Peeing aside, female handlers do quite well.

There are many misconceptions in some previous posts, but I'm not going to change anyones mind. I will on occasion however attempt to provide a different perspective. Canine is, in my opinion, the best thing happening in the police business. In my experience the vast majority of handlers are hard working dedicated employess. The dog becomes their partner. They'll spend more time with it than most of their friends and some of their family. I've seen battle hardened veterens cry when their partner was lost whether in conflict or just because his time ran out. Police aren't perfect. We hire from the same labor pool as everyone else. We certainly do make the news on every little thing though, ha ha, but I've come to expect that.

DFrost

[tonkatuff81]

Of course I can question the verdict. Officers testified as to what they saw regarding the choking and kicking, and what they heard about his disdain for the dog.

I agree that when a cop makes a mistake in the heat of the moment, they should not be criminally charged, but if warranted, dismissed from the force.

This was not one of those moments. It was a training session. In the end, Duke is dead, and it was caused by the hands (and feet) of the handler.

[BlackPuppy]

I've seen at least one very dominant police dog. I was at an IPO seminar and the dog was there in an attempt to correct it's "dirty biting". When the dog is called off the decoy, it would run back towards the handler, but then turn around for one more bite before finally obeying the command to return. It was a Romanian import GSD. When the dog was let out of the squad car, we were told not to look at it, or we might become a target.

Does law enforcement really need to buy such head strong-dogs for their departments? Sounds like a liability to me. Get a decent dog that obeys. Malinois love to obey, they do it much better than a GSD, who actually might think first.

[DFrost]

Originally Posted by tonkatuff81

Of course I can question the verdict. Officers testified as to what they saw regarding the choking and kicking, and what they heard about his disdain for the dog.

Of course you can question the verdict, but don't put it on the police. They weren't the jury. They were not the DA's office that reduced the charges. The jury acquitted him. They didn't have to convince you, only the 12 people on the panel. Neither of us, and doubtful anyone on this forum, was there. We can only go on what was said by the media (which I distrust) and the testimony of other police officer (which obviously many people distrust) and the decision of the jury. Worked that way for countless people that have sat in the defense chair.

DFrost

[selzer]

DFrost, my point is that many departments without a lot of experience are doing their own training and there seems to be as many ways to train these dogs as there are departments. The comment about peeing on a tree had my jaw hanging when I heard it but whatever.

In our county, if our guys are being compensated for training times, then our adminsitration is boldly lying in the papers and such to help support k9 units. They are trying to run the k9 units totally on donations. People actually donate food for the k9s -- so, what, if someone donates a big bag of Old Roy, you feed it to them???

Telling us that the officers are not being paid for the training of the dogs, may be their way of encouraging the community to volunteer to the program.

[VaBeachFamily]

Just a note on an earlier post... 6 years in Prison is NOT absurd... especially for murdering a police officer.. that dog is just as much an officer as he was... someone should hand him by a chain and beat him