Do you have a story of police killing your dog? Do you want to tell your story on NORML SHOW LIVE? You can remain anonymous and it only takes a ten minute phone call. Contact me at stash@norml.org.
Update: News of this raid and the video has gone viral and the Columbia Police Department is scrambling to put the spin on this. Let them know how you feel; vote in this local news poll on the issue:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/polls/2010/may/do-you-tink-swat-actions-were-appropriate/results/
(Columbia Daily-Tribune) In response to widespread “misinformation” developing on message boards and blogs, as well as a death threat toward Columbia police officers, Columbia Mayor Bob McDavid and Burton held a news conference Thursday afternoon.
Burton said police have fielded questions from several agitated callers concerning the two dogs shot. Some callers have received incorrect information that the corgi is the dog that was killed for being aggressive toward officers, and others told police they were told the pit bull that was killed because of its aggressive behavior was in a cage.
“It’s simply not true,” Burton said.
The chief, who is personally conducting the internal investigation, walked reporters through his understanding of the incident. Three officers shot at the pit bull, and the first missed completely, which is when the corgi is believed to have been shot in the paw, he said. The pit bull acted aggressively toward a SWAT member again as they pushed into the home, which resulted in the animal being shot, he said. After being shot, it moved to attack a SWAT member, which is when the dog was killed.
Here it comes: the victim was a dangerous druggie, a narcotics kingpin with a lethally aggressive pit bull. Because two confidential informants (read: snitches with something to gain by rolling on someone, true or false accusations be damned) alleged he had large amounts of marijuana and a police garbage search yielded pipes and baggies with pot residue on them.
(Columbia Daily-Tribune) “It was unfortunate timing,” said Lt. Scott Young, SWAT commander.
Deputy Chief Tom Dresner, former SWAT commander, has said he is confident narcotics were in Whitworth’s residence before police entry.
Columbia police spokeswoman Jessie Haden said there sometimes was a lag between the time a warrant was issued and when SWAT could execute the warrant. The problem was SWAT members’ primary assignments, such as their role as beat officers or investigators, would take precedence over SWAT and they would have to work overtime to participate in SWAT operations.
So, in the police opinion, the mistake wasn’t in sending automatic-weapon wielding cops into the family home, shooting up the place with a child present and killing the family pet. It’s that they served the warrant too late to catch the victim with what they believed to be large amounts of weapons of mass destruction, er, marijuana.
There is a Columbia City Council meeting on May 17th at 7pm. Blogging’s great, but in-person protesting and activism are better. I’m calling on our Missouri NORML chapters to come out and demand an end to these tactics. Click the link, join the one near you, and get involved in fighting back.
We’ve told the story of drug war canicide – dog murder – before here on the NORML Stash Blog. From the LAPD dog killing during dispensary raids to the Buffalo man who pleaded with cops to let him put his beloved pets in another room before cops gunned them down, and even the mayor of a town in Maryland forced to sit handcuffed near a pool of his slaughtered black labs’ blood during a SWAT raid that turned out to be in error.
This incident in Missouri happened in February and is just one of the 100-150 militaristic raids on homes every day in America, most often to serve narcotics warrants, which usually means marijuana, the substance involved in almost half of all drug arrests. But never before have we brought you actual video of law enforcement protecting us from adults smoking a bowl in their own home and serving us by executing family pets in front of small children.
(Warning: if you love your dog as much as I love Roscoe P. Coltrane, my Jack Russell terrier, scratch its belly and get to your serenity place before you view this. It is very disturbing.)
If you notice toward the end of the video you can see what appears to be a small bong on the coffee table. The Columbia, Missouri SWAT team sure took down a big-time drug kingpin while he slept peacefully with his wife and seven-year-old child, huh?
(Columbia Daily-Tribune) Police discovered a grinder, a pipe and a small amount of marijuana, Haden said. Because the SWAT team acts on the most updated information available, the team wanted to enter the house before marijuana believed to be at the location could be distributed, she said.
“If you let too much time go by, then the drugs are not there,” she said.
Drug distributors traditionally have a history with firearms, which is why the SWAT team is used when executing such warrants, [police spokeswoman Officer Jessie] Haden said. If the SWAT team believed they could have executed the warrant successfully during the daytime when the wife and child were not present, they would have, she said.
Well, the “drugs” weren’t there, now, were they? But let’s pretend they were. Let’s say the man was holding enough marijuana to qualify for a felony charge in Missouri (over 35 grams). Are we to understand that holding any more than an ounce and a quarter in Missouri is justification enough to send SWAT to burst into a man’s home late at night and start firing weapons and slaughtering his pets and terrorizing his wife and children?
And what exactly is it that made the SWAT team believe it couldn’t execute a successful warrant in the daytime? The presence of his pit bull and corgi (yes, these cops shot a corgi) or that his wife and child would be away so he wouldn’t mind going down guns blazing to protect his lucrative marijuana empire? And if he had enough pot to have a lucrative marijuana empire worth shooting cops over, how exactly did he manage to get rid of it all in the few hours between daytime and that night?
No, folks, the justification is simple: shock and awe. These cops are taught that “druggies” are dangerous armed hostile mentally deranged lunatics who all emulate Tony Montana from Scarface. Then they are taught how to dominate and intimidate and that one of the quickest ways you can do so is to show them you have the power of life and death. And they do this as a message to all the other “druggies” out there that they are not safe and that they are serious about engaging the “enemy” and winning the “war”.
Radley Balko at Reason’s Hit and Run (a top libertarian blog) has been following the story and promises an update from the victim’s mother, who was present at the raid. Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake (a top progressive blog which has recently begun a new campaign for legalization), Scott Morgan at Drug War Chronicle, and Pete Guither at DrugWarRant have also been following the story.
In the end the victim pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia in exchange for dropping the charges of misdemeanor marijuana possession and second-degree child endangerment. Yes, you read that right: the police burst into this man’s home, shooting weapons in his home and killing his dog with his seven-year-old sleeping in the next room and he’s the one who was endangering his child by smoking pot in his own home.
P.S. You’d think the ASPCA or PETA would be all over this, wouldn’t you? I did, but found no reference to any police-shooting-dog stories on either of their websites. I once got in contact with people in their organizations but got no interest from them on addressing these clear cases of cruel and unethical treatment of animals. I even tried contacting Bill Maher, a high-profile PETA supporter and marijuana legalization supporter to spotlight the topic, but I’ve never received any response. None of these animal rights supporters seem to think a family pet has a right to be protected from police brutality if the owner is thought to be a “druggie”.
P.P.S. Paul Armentano reminds me that in 2004, seven in ten Columbia, Missouri residents voted for the end of the “arrest, prosecution, punishment, or sanction” citizens for their medical use of marijuana, and six in ten voted for the decriminalization of marijuana for personal use. So the dog was murdered and the family terrorized over something only 30%-40% of residents believe is a crime.
The person I feel the most pain for is that small child who lost his pet because a cop shot it with an automatic weapon…breaks my heart and I pray that the day will come when this pointless destruction ends…
-just another voice
We the people of this nation need to stand against these injustices Write there congressman local goverment Lets start a phone blockcade on there police office and court system Continous calling of all LEOs in that area making there phones useless Just one tctic Peaceful with purpose
DIDN’T watch it, COULDN’T have watched it. That being said, isn’t it enough to just blog about it without showing it?
I can’t add anything but the fact that I feel like we are getting closer to some form of communism…
There are hundreds of raids a day that are similar.
What I don’t understand is why they continue to persecute marijuana users with such fervor when half the country thinks it should just be legal.
We ended this problem with alcohol when we repealed prohibition and created millions of legal jobs.
How much longer is it going to take to educate the willfully ignorant. History just keeps repeating and half the country is too dumb to realize it.
i hope they sue the hell out of those bastards, i cant imagine what that kid must me going thru. i’m glad that wasn’t me and my dog, i would be finding out who every one of those cops were and deal some serious payback.
stop the video at 1:07 and you see a cage the lighting is not good enough to see and animal and the angle is bad BUT THERE IS A CAGE most probably for a pit bull to keep it from tearing the house up while it’s owners slept because pit’s will do that not destructively but playfully
American authorities believe they have the right to enter your own home without your consent. That’s not a free country. You could pay for your own house and pay your bills…but if you don’t pay property tax, a tax on your own piece of land you own,..they can come and take your property away from you….how is that a free country?
This is just another example of the danger we all live from our own country as American citizens. The American government gets away with killing whoever and whatever they want without repercussions. It could be your house; your mother, your father, your pets…the American government doesn’t care about you. The American government doesn’t care if you get sick or are in need help. They don’t care if your unemployed…they only care about you if you miss paying a fucking bill.
Would President Obama or any of the people in the government come to my funeral if I died today? So why should I bow to them?
Remember folks….if it isn’t an American flag it’s probably a bomb.
America is officially lost.
We are no longer the land of the free or the home of the brave.
Disgusts me so much, I can’t wait to leave this shit hole of a country.
I sent this to the City of Columbia ;
# First Name: People
# Last Name: of America
# Comment: Is this how you treat a family for using America’s least destructive , least violent drug ? This is how you should be treating Alcoholics or Meth users , not Marijuana . I am sickened and saddened to think how your people are treated over use of marijuana . Your wasting money on these ” busts ” and are an embarrassment to the public by conducting such busts on the American people of this Country . To see such violence used by the Officers sickens me to my stomach .
# Form: feedbac
People keep spreading this video on your facebook, myspace or whatever social networking site you use. People need to see this video and become outraged. It’s videos like this that will change peoples minds on marijuana laws.
thank god they didnt mistake the kid for a dog, he would have been dead
WHAT THE HELL!!?? Watchin this video hearing the dog scream and cry while the family (kids man and women) hears is and gets detained like criminals.. this is an outrage I feel like I just watch my own mother get raped
This is a true disgrace of the American people. That poor child is going to have issues over this to say the least.
To add insult to injury they charge the father with reckless endangerment. Check out this small follow up story.
http://trueslant.com/allisonkilkenny/2010/05/07/confusing-details-emerge-about-missouri-swat-team-warrant/
punk ass cops
We must be vigilant about who we elect to represent us. It is our responsibility to vote for who best represents us, not who the parties place before us to choose from. We must save ourselves from the dark road we have found ourselves on. Ignore the factions in politics and elect a down to earth human. Power to the people not faceless corporations. Peace.
Its a good thing being a dumbass isnt illigal or half the police force in this country would be under indictment….
I hope they get there asses sued off, fired and prosicuted. Had that been a “police” dog wede go to prison. But a civillian dog means nothing. How is that fair ? Its time to even the rules up, there used to be standards to hiring police officers, now they will let any dumbass carry a gun n badge as you see here in plain site, dumbasses with guns very very dangerous. Way more dangerous then the man they arrested and for sure more dangerous then the dogs that got killed.
Sue every cop, city or state you can beat them with their own rules !!!!!
wtf did those stupid fuckers shoot the dog for the dog didnt do shit!
This is fucking deplorable. Pot is not worth any of this insanity, and over what a few pipes and a LITTLE bit of marijuana?! Are you fucking kiddin’ me? Those dogs weren’t doing a damn thing, you can see the pitbull at one point in the video, was that dog acting aggressively? Hell no. And a CORGI!? Omg.
This is just disgusting and they need to be fired
those dogs were in kennel crates the doors were shut on the kennel crates,so henceforth,those dogs were of no threat to anyone.
I urge you to prosecute the police officers featured in the following video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbwSwv…under Missouri state statute MO ST 578.012 1 (1) & (2) which reads:1. A person is guilty of animal abuse when a person:(1) Intentionally or purposely kills an animal in any manner not allowed by or expressly exempted from the provisions of sections 578.005 to 578.023 and 273.030, RSMo;(2) Purposely or intentionally causes injury or suffering to an animal;The officers in the video are not exempt under any provision of the state statues and as such should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.www.youtube.comwww.youtube.com
http://www.youtube.com
http://www.youtube.com
the swat team violated missouri statute on animal abuse.so therefore i,ve emailed a complaint to the national humane society which i,m a member of.
A similar incident occured at my home. and i can truely state from first hand experience, it was one of the most devastating things i have ever witnessed. my dog didn’t die, but they had to amputate his leg. all over NOTHING…no charges were filed, NOTHING… amazing how many things like that never go on record or make the papers… only if it’s in favor of the state…
i think if that was me, and they shot my puppies .i would search each one of those bastards out, and hang them up by thier balls ,and let a pack of wild wolfs have at them sorry sons a bitches. thats pure bull shit.
Fuckin Pigs
Clearly this video depicts domestic terrorism imposed upon a US Citizen and his wife and 7 year old child. The brutal murder if his pet should be a felony in and of itself. The act of terrorizing this man and his wife and child should also be a felony. When I first viewed the video I thought “This can not be happening within the borders of the Untied States of America?!” This video is harribly shocking to the good conscience of any reasonable individual. Our Federal Government needs to acrt swiftly to put a decisive end to this type of domestic terrorism and the murder of not only a family pet but also the spiritual trauma to the man and his wife and child – articularly the child of course. As long as our Federal Government remain in a “hypocritical wrongful mindset” against the use of marijuana the vast majority of our adult citizens will be unable to restore heartfelt trust in our government. Our Federal Government should outlaw the use of Swat teams in such cases as well as serving nighttime search warrants. Everyone knows and believes that marijuana would be legal but for corrupt goverment officials and the liquor and pharmaceutical industries stance in opposition due inductry fear of lost profits. So as long as our government allows this type of domestic terrorism to take place instead doing what is right and legalizing marijuana for adult consumption and putting a stop to the brutality and trauma being thrust upon our citizens – our citizens will be unable to foster and develop a greater trust of our Federal Government. I am truly appalled at what I witnessed on this video. I observed brainwashed officers in military uniform armed to the hilt going into a the home of a US Citizen at nightime and terrorizing and tramatizing a 7 year old child and a man and his wife and shooting a completely docile small family dog and murdering the other family pet. Dogs naturally protect their owners and PETA and Bill Maher should be very active in putting a stop to this type of domestic terrorism. The Truth is that over 80% of our adult population has tried marijuana and used it for at least a period of time during their lifetimes. The Truth is that our Federal Government allows the National Institute of Cancer NIH in Bethesda, Maryland to allow cancer patients to use marijuana for pain and nauseau. To refuse a natural remedy to suffering humanity is a not only a crime against humanity but a sin against our God. Christ counsels us within the Gospel to “beware of Pharma” and to use natural herbs. The small percentage of pur population who would not like marijuana legalzied is comprised of the very elderly and those still brainwashed fromt he McCarthy era, those who are against the use of any type of herb or drink that with proper use relaxes an individual; and the very ignorant. Law makers who are opposed are only opposed for fear to come out in favor of legalization. The Big Lie needs to stop now. We can not allow our people to be the victims of brutal domestic terrorism inflicted upon them by brainwashed armed SWAT team members who truly belive they are doing the right thing. We can not fault the SWAT teams members because they are indoctrinated to behave in this manner. We can however fault those who teach them to use such inhumane brutal tactics and who continue to insist that such brutal domestic terrorism be allowed. Most lawyers in our country have smoked or eaten marijuana at some point in their lifetimes – yet they can not come forward because the State Bars will take away their licenses. The same with physicians and many other licensed professions who are kept from being truthful about their true individual beliefs regarding the legalization of marijuana. NORML should send trustworthy persons door to door rquesting anonymous donations in cash and then use these fund to lobby our US Senators and Congresspersons to take charge of the marijuana legalization issue at the Federal level and pass legislation legalizing the use of marijuana by adults over 21. I believe NORML would collect an enormous amount of funds in this manner which will be further proof of the will of the vast majority of our citizens.
Again, I find this video to be horribly shocking evidence of the military-level brutual,inhumane, and armed domestic terrorism that is taking place against harmless non-violent children, women and men in various “ignorant and abusive” localities within our Nation. I sincerely hope that our Federal Government will intervene and put an abrupt stop to the harsh and brutal terrorizing of our citizens and their children over small amounts of marijuana privatly used within the confines of an individeual’s home. Our teenagers are exposed to terrible addicting drugs because marijuana has not been legalized; therefore, when they try to purchase it on the black market they are exposed to these other very bad drugs and pushers. Legalization of marijuana use for sults 21 and older will destroy the black market and make it much easier for our SWAT teams to go after the real criminals who are selling the harsh addictive drugs such as methamphetemines, cocaine, crack and heroin. The Big Lie must end now. I am a lawyer and I support legalization.
People! Don’t say how you feel here! Tell your government! And if they don’t listen then by god organize a protest! This has me so ridiculously angry but I alone can’t do it myself. We all feel this way so what are we waiting for? Get the locks and chains and get ready to get hungry sitting in front of your government offices. Or just close this page and go to bed. That works too. One day it’ll be you!
The video is shocking to the human conscience.
A 7 year old child and a man and his young wife completely terrorized for using a small amount of marijuana within the confines of their homes – an armed military level home invasion in which the child is brutaly traumaitized, a young wife brutaly traumatized, a young man and tax payer inhumanely terrorized within the confines of his own home while their small family dog is shot and another family pet is brutaly murdered.
It is a medical fact that marijuana is not physically addictive. It is also a fact that our teenagers are exposed to very harsh drugs such as methamphetemines, crack and heroin when they attempt to purchase marijuana on the black market. Legalization of marijuana for consumption by adults 21 years and older will destroy most of the black market and thus destroy the avenue by which our young people are exposed to very harsh dangerous addictive drugs and pushers. It is also a fact that the National Institute of Cancer NIH in Bethesda, Maryland allows cancer patients to use marijuana for pain and nauseau. Only an individual of the utmost ignorant, cruel and inhumane mind set could deny those who are in medical need the right to use marijuana. Additionally, marijuana can help cure alcoholism and millions of people need the help of this natural herb in order to break the terrible cycle of alcohol use and addiction. Our Federal Government should seek the trust and support of our citizens and until the hypocracy stops and marijuana is legalized our citizens will continue to believe that corrupt political officials are standing in the way of legalization due to the huge amounts of money changing hands from the alcohol and pharmaceutical lobbies. Legalization will serve to much better protect our young people from exposure to bad highly addictive drugs and will enable our government to successfully go after the real criminals and pushers who are selling these harsh bad addictive drugs and put a stop to it. It is a fact that over 80% of our adult population has tried marijuana at some point during their lifetimes by either smoking it or ingesting it with food. Due to professional license requirements such as those for lawyers and doctors and other professionals – our professional people can not admit that they have ever used marijuana or support legalization for fear of loosing their professional licenses. We can not continue to require our adult population to live within the confines of wrongful legally imposed lies and hypocracy. To do so destroys the very core of a humane being and it is simply wrong. Christ counsels us within the Gospel to “Beware of pharma” and to use natural herbs and remedies. This does not mean that all pharma is bad – surely there are many excellent pharmaceuticals available for the treatment of many serious medical conditions – but only that when a natural remedy such as a natural herb exists then we should look to use of the natural herb as opposed to the unnatural man-made chemical pharma – at the very least we should be allowed the choice. Marijuana has many medical uses including but not limited to the treatment of glycoma, cancer pain, chemotherapy nausea, severe stress, depression and anxiety, post partum depression, physical pain, arthritis – the list is long. Additionally, marijuana users should not be charged with crimes and incarcerated – the tax dollars wasted on prosecution within our judicial system and imprisonment are well within hundreds of billions of dollars annually if not approaching a trillion annually – this is a wrongful horrible waste when so many are suffering in our country economically and when there are so many other far more important issues that need the attention of our tax dollars which are being wasted on enforcing the illegality of marijuana use. Marijauna needs to be legalized for consumption and use by adults 21 and older as soon as possible at the Federal level i.e our Congress. Too many decent tax paying individuals have suffered tremendously due to the current illegality of marijuana in all but 17 of our States – and in those remaining States too many decent tax paying individuals continue to suffer for the hypocracy of “illegal marijuana”. The Big Lie needs to stop now. I am a lawyer and I support the legalization of marijuana both for medical use and for consumption and use by adults age 21 and over.
This sucks and never should have happened. DON’T BREAK THE FUCKING LAW! why is is when someone speeds and gets a ticket they are pissed at the cops. Or in this case If marijuana is illegal then don’t be a dumb ass an smoke it. If the loser father never touched the stuff then we wouldn’t be reading/watching this. Now if the guy had a pound of pot and a few M16’s lying around and a pitbull got shot during the raid, you would want him in jail for child endangerment.
lrgalize MJ even cops smoke it
legalize MJ even cops smoke it
I WOULD BE SO FUCKING PISSED I WOULD JUST KEEP FIGHTING! Expecily if i found out they killed my dog! Turns my stomach. This kinda stuff just turns my stomach. They should have told him why he was being arrested. Its a no brainer why people grow up hating cops. On the subject of PETA they are just as bad. Hell I think they are worse.
Let us be clear: There is not now, nor has there ever been, a “War on Drugs.”
What there is is a cynical program of political duplicity; the intent of which is not to prevent drug abuse (which it encourages), but to create a climate of distrust, fear, hostility, alienation, divisiveness, and violence within our society. The so called “War on Drugs” is in reality a war of cultural prejudice waged primarily against the young, the poor, the non-white and the socially disaffected to the advantage of the Elected, the Corporate, the Privileged and the Few.
President Nixon launched this war against American citizens in 1968, at a time of extreme political and social unrest. For Nixon, it was a method of “getting even” with “uppity blacks,” “radical leftists” and “dirty” hippies” that he and the nefarious interests he represented (especially those who benefited economically from the war in Vietnam) regarded as “second class citizens” and “traitors” to the American way of life.
On the contrary: What we were doing then, and what we are doing now, is trying to liberate America from a reign of political and economic tyranny that is sustained by rhetorical propaganda and misinformation. We love America and the Constitution and wish nothing more than to see her succeed in her Great Promise of providing Freedom and Justice for All. Those who oppose this very High Aim, whether out of ignorance, greed or bigotry, are the true enemies of our nation and its Constitution.
Dividing Americans against themselves, making them mistrust, fear and wage war against their fellow citizens: This is what the so called “War on Drugs” was meant to do–and that is precisely what it has done and is doing–far more successfully than even Richard Nixon could have hoped. What better way to destroy the gains blacks were making through the Civil Rights movement than to flood the ghettos with drugs which addict thousands of users, offering the allure for “quick” money and escape from poverty, while simultaneously creating divisions and violent “turf wars” between ghetto gangs? All this while creating the political justifications and judicial sanctions for increasingly militaristic police “crack downs,” arresting, incarcerating (killing when necessary) and ruining the lives of hundreds of thousands of black men, their families and their communities.
After Nixon, both Ronald Regan and George Bush found their own uses for the “War on Drugs.” Besides the political advantages of “getting tough” on the very crime and violence that prohibition inevitably engenders, drug smuggling by covert factions within the federal system itself created vast sums of unregulated money to fund illegal military operations outside our nations boarders. What began as a cynical attitude of social malice quickly turned into a bad habit of deception and corruption. Nothing, my friends, is more addictive than power.
At this point in our history–the election year of 1996–this insidious and increasingly malignant and militaristic policy is still with us. And to judge by President Clinton’s appointment of General Barry McCaffrey as “Drug Czar,” it may be about to get much worse. This so called “policy” has become such a part of our media conditioned perception of reality that it is difficult to imagine an America without it. Anyone who publicly opposes the inflamed rhetoric or tries to bring rational, informed discussion to the issue, is branded a “traitor,” characterized as a “drug pusher” or worse–in precisely the same way leftists were branded as “communists” in the McCarthy era of the 1950s. Witness the forced resignation of Surgeon General Jocylin Elders after she took an informed and reasoned position of leadership on this issue. She understood, as more and more Americans are coming to understand, that making criminals of drug users not only does not solve the problems associated with drug abuse, it exacerbates them far beyond the harms of the drugs. Indeed, with forfeiture laws and the kinds of invasions of our privacy that it allows, the “War on Drugs” has put the civil liberties of all citizens in jeopardy.
It is time for us to ARM OURSELVES against this misguided tyranny with information, with conviction and with every legal strategy for a redress of grievances that our Constitution allows.
After nearly four decades of fueling the U.S. policy of a war on drugs with over a trillion tax dollars and 37 million arrests for nonviolent drug offenses, our confined population has quadrupled making building prisons the fastest growing industry in the United States. More than 2.2 million of our citizens are currently incarcerated and every year we arrest an additional 1.9 million more guaranteeing those prisons will be bursting at their seams. Every year we choose to continue this war will cost U.S. taxpayers another 69 billion dollars. Despite all the lives we have destroyed and all the money so ill spent, today illicit drugs are cheaper, more potent, and far easier to get than they were 35 years ago at the beginning of the war on drugs. Meanwhile, people continue dying in our streets while drug barons and terrorists continue to grow richer than ever before. We would suggest that this scenario must be the very definition of a failed public policy. This madness must cease!
The stated goals of current U.S.drug policy — reducing crime, drug addiction, and juvenile drug use — have not been achieved, even after nearly four decades of a policy of “war on drugs”. This policy, fueled by over a trillion of our tax dollars has had little or no effect on the levels of drug addiction among our fellow citizens, but has instead resulted in a tremendous increase in crime and in the numbers of Americans in our prisons and jails. With 4.6% of the world’s population, America today has 22.5% of the worlds prisoners. But, after all that time, after all the destroyed lives and after all the wasted resources, prohibited drugs today are cheaper, stronger, and easier to get than they were thirty-five years ago at the beginning of the so-called “war on drugs”. With this in mind, we current and former members of law enforcement have created a drug-policy reform movement — LEAP. We believe that to save lives and lower the rates of disease, crime and addiction. as well as to conserve tax dollars, we must end drug prohibition. LEAP believes that a system of regulation and control of production and distribution will be far more effective and ethical than one of prohibition. We do this in hopes that we in Law Enforcement can regain the public’s respect and trust, which have been greatly diminished by our involvement in imposing drug prohibition. Please consider joining us. You don’t have to be a cop to join LEAP! Find out more about us by reading some of the articles in our Publications section or by watching and listening to some of our multimedia clips,. You can also read about the men and women who speak for LEAP, and see what we have on the calendar for the near future.
@Bob: Can you name a legally enacted law that was broken here? I challenge anyone that feels these people were lawfully raided to prove that cannabis is legally in schedule I:
http://tinyurl.com/classactionlawsuit
This is nothing but the typical American gulag system in effect. It’s the only way this country can make money, is at the expense of its own citizens any way they can. On the contrary, this is more like a waste of money to all taxpayers. What a joke this place has become.
chicken shit basterds
absolutely astonishing. I could not even imagine that happening to my dog. When will people look at this madness and realize it has to stop. That dog didn’t even attack they took it out for precaution. Some compassion.
MOTHERFUCKERS! yeah have a big fucking drink for that one,hope you die from liver disease
this is exactly what’s wrong with our government and it’s sickening…
Bill should contact you all soon if he has not already.
Well…What are we going to do about this! I for sure am going to spend the day calling all the Animal rights groups. Then I am printing up flyers and posting them every where I can. Please don’t be silent about this.
My eight year old daughter keeps asking me.
Are they going to shoot our dogs we love for no reason?
I am at a loss as to what to tell her as I have never ever lied to her.
Do I lie to her and tell her that I know that this will never happen to us or do I try and be honest and then reason to her the odds of this happening?
I would really like for her to be able to look these people in the eyes to reassure her fears, but after the last few encounters we have had together with the police I am torn as to what I should do for my family.
I am looking to the CPD for these answers?
The way these people were treated because of a very small amount of pot is rediculous. I dont know much about the animal rights movement but the pain that dog had to endure was unnecessary. Police are given way to much power over people and they clearly abuse it. I fucking hate cops for this reason and i understand not all cops are like that but im sure they could have spent more time on something else than planning out this raid to bust this hardcore drug lord with a wife and child and little bag of pot and a pipe. I think its safe to say that this is a fail war on harmless drugs. Maybe cops should try working on finding the people that actually hurt society because from my point of view that was a harmless guy who found a way to relax after work by smoking a some weed.
This NEEDS to go national. This needs to be brought to the attention of the news directors at CNN and MSNBC. I am from Vermont and am outraged about this. Whether you are for or against the legalization of marijuana, this is sickening for anyone to watch. And the excuse is often used that the “average pot smoker” doesn’t go to jail. Yeah… you’ll just have the cops breaking in your door in the middle of the night firing guns in your residence. UNREAL!
damn that’s some lame ass, cold ass shit. fucking cops
Protocol was followed. While law enforcement policy makers will attempt to bullshit you into believing this, the view is intentionally skewed. Police are advised to take out dogs “percieved” to be a threat. Truth be told this is a perfect opportunity to engage in selective target engagement in real life situations, an oppportunity to evaluate live fire exercises on American families. They actually do it well in most instances if you review how many of these engagements ended in the selective deaths of family pets. Or as law enforcement policy makers may ask “Would I be standing here answering these questions if that chihuaha had ripped through the officer’s flack jacket and tore his heart from his chest?”
My Heart is broken. I can’t even imagine what this family is going through. These Men and I hesitate to call them men, should be so ashamed. I am an older person whose days left on this earth are few an I cry for our country and the Horror that is being spread over America and the world. I fear police more than any terrorist threat and I honestly believe that the real terrorist are right here in America in power positions.
Cant stop shaking. Cant stop thinking what if that child walked in front of one of those cops. Funny how the video is created to only show what the cops want you to see, they have the best night vision equipment available but yet poor footage for the cops benifit. When will this kind of madness stop, when will the law be stripped of its right of using unrealistic excessive force. Any dog will bark and be confused when you enter its home when all is calm and dark and for this it was murdered. And why do you not have the right to physicaly see that search warrant when cops are breaking and entering! No wonder so many have mistrust issues with law enforcement. The officer tells the victim he has the right to know his name after the victim has told him he wants a lawyer, once that victim told the officer he wanted a lawyer the officer should have left it at that. Everyday it seems like we see something on the news abut cops killing someone and I wonder why they carry tasers that our tax dollars pay for but still pull their guns and kill. My heart goes out to that family and all others who have been wronged by law enforcement. Who do I write to to help stop this madness?
I think it’s terrible for a couple reasons…
They should have get there sooner and found his drugs before he had a chance to distribute them and the second reason it’s terrible is that they should have had a high enough caliber round to drop the dog on the first shot. The first cop who missed should be suspended until he learns how to aim a pistol accurately.