Pennsylvania Police Officer Suspended For Partner's Death

[MA-Caver]

Lots of wrong with this picture

NEW CASTLE, Pa. (AP) — A western Pennsylvania police officer will remain suspended without pay for 60 days because the police dog he handled died from heat stroke from being left in a hot squad car for nearly four hours.
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/20...lice-officer-suspended-60-days-in-k-9s-death/

Not in the officer's suspension.
That was his partner and it's just simple cruelty. What was he thinking? He of all people should know that cracking the windows open only lowers the temperature by about 5 or 10 degrees.
What was he doing for 4 hours to make him forget about his partner?
If K-9's are afforded the same regard as their human counterparts then that's also 2nd degree murder if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Buka]

God, that breaks my heart. If that officer wasn't involved in a four hour desperate attempt to save someone's life I hope he loses his job for good. What could you possibly be doing for four hours while your dog/partner was left in a hot car?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Glue a fur coat to his ***.
Put him in a hot car with the windows down 2".
Park the car in Down Town Dallas for 4 hours.

Same for anyone who does that to a kid, pet or old person.

 

[Archangel M]

The "killing a police dog =killing a cop" is a bit of popular myth. As much as I would wish otherwise, in my state killing or injuring a police animal is only a misdemeanor, and that's only for an intentional act. Otherwise we would charge an animal cruelty offense. I can't imagine what this officer was thinking. Keeping the AC on is high on a K9 officers to do list. I wonder if the PD will dock him for the cost of the dog too. They are not cheap.

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[Tez3]

There was a case recently where a dog handler left two dogs in a car and they died from heatstroke, seems the handler tried to commit suicide afterwards. Haven't heard much about it since though.
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/news/2011-1/june/28/probe_into_death_of_dogs.aspx

 

[geezer]

About four years back we had a similar case here in Arizona. The officer got distracted by a family ordeal and left his police dog in his patrol vehicle overnight. In August. In Arizona. Of course the poor animal died. The public outcry was huge. People wanted to lynch the officer. After the facts came out, I have to say I really felt sorry for the guy. It seems like he was a good cop and an animal lover who just messed-up big timecausing a horrible tragedy. In similar circumstances, otherwise loving and responsible parents have left their babies to die in hot cars. It happens here every summer. Same thing with kids drowning in pools. Truly tragic. See for yourselves:

http://www.azcentral.com/community/chandler/articles/0813cr-deaddog.html

 

[jks9199]

I just don't know enough about this case. These incidents are never pretty or good. Most handlers do their best to take care of their dog. The cruisers nearly always have features to protect the dog, like the HotDogger system that's supposed to alert the handler, sound an alarm, and let the dog out if the temperature in the car gets too high. But sometimes those systems fail, through no fault of the handler. They're mechanical devices, and they don't always work right. In other cases, the handler just gets tied up longer than he expected. It's happened to me. Last week, one day, I walked out of the station, started my car, and went back in for something I forgot. I didn't intend to be in the station for more than a minute or two, so I left the car running. More than an hour later, I finally got back to my car... The same thing can happen to a K9 officer; he stops somewhere for what he thinks is only going to be a minute or two... and it takes a lot longer.

I'm not saying the guy doesn't deserve the time off and restrictions. Someone did an investigation, and came to that conclusion for discipline. I'm not privy to the investigative report, so I'll have to assume it supported the discipline. But I'm not going to damn him, either. While it may have been found to be preventable -- it may not have been simple negligence on his part, either.

 

[WC_lun]

It makes me ill to see an animal treated this way. However, if nothing else this officer should lose his job for wasting all the money spent to train the canine.

 

[jks9199]

The "killing a police dog =killing a cop" is a bit of popular myth. As much as I would wish otherwise, in my state killing or injuring a police animal is only a misdemeanor, and that's only for an intentional act. Otherwise we would charge an animal cruelty offense. I can't imagine what this officer was thinking. Keeping the AC on is high on a K9 officers to do list. I wonder if the PD will dock him for the cost of the dog too. They are not cheap.

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Depends on the state. In Virginia, it's a class 5 felony (18.2-144.1) to injure or kill any police animal. Interestingly enough, simply assault a LEO is a class 6 felony, a lesser offense -- though killing a LEO in performance of his duties is a capital offense.

 

[Archangel M]

True...but it would still not equal the killing of a human officer in terms of severity.

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