New Perspective? New video emerges of police shooting dog

Aaron Jones July 9, 2013 No Comments

NOTE: I wasn’t convinced by the attacks on the police officers simply based on one video. This video gives more perspective to the events; loud music, the dog appears to lunge at the officer, the officer appears to first try to get the dogs collar. It’s important to leave aside the arrest of the individual for a moment and deal with the reality of a large dangerous dog. Does this new video change your opinion?

In the wake of a shocking video that showed Hawthorne police officers fatally shooting a dog, the department has released a second video that it says exonerates the officers.

After the original cell phone video of the incident was posted to YouTube a week ago, the Southern California police department was bombarded with angry calls and emails, including death threats that prompted the department to take the three officers involved off street duty.

But the video below, taken on a cell phone by a second witness at the scene, shows more of the interactions the dog owner, Leon Rosby, had with police before the shooting. It also more clearly shows the officers’ actions before shooting the dog, a large Rottweiler. In the video, the shooting officer reaches his hand toward the dog and hesitates before shooting it four times.

“This video will help us tremendously regarding [Rosby’s] actions prior to his arrest,” said public information officer Lt. Scott Swain, who sent the video to The Huffington Post. “You can see the officer gives out his hand to let the dog sniff it and tries to grab the leash.”

Many people have asked why the officer needed to shoot four times, accusing him of being “trigger-happy.” However, Swain said that’s the department’s policy.

“We’re not trained to shoot one shot or to shoot in the leg. You’re always trained to shoot multiple shots,” Swain said. “Firing a gun is a last resort. We’re trained to eliminate the threat, and that’s a judgment call on the officers.”

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