Brickbat: Kiss the Cook

Mark Demaline finished his shift as a cook at a Livingston, Montana, restaurant and went to a bar next door for a drink. He then came back to the closed restaurant, made himself a salad to take home and picked up his things. As he was leaving the restaurant, a dog attacked him, latching onto his thigh and pulling him to the floor. As he was struggling with the dog, two Livingston police officers approached and began shouting at him to put his hands up. They pulled the dog, which was a police canine, off him and eventually figured out Demaline was supposed to be in the restaurant. The officers say they entered the building when they saw the door was unlocked, and their chief is defending their attack on Demaline. "It's acceptable for the dog to confront anybody in the business at that hour," said Chief Darren Raney. "When the dog finds somebody in the building, he's going to secure him, and that's what happened. He did what he was supposed to do."

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

"It's acceptable for the dog to confront anybody in the business at that hour," said Chief Darren Raney.

So the dog was wearing a watch?

[mr simple]

Is the dog always in that building at that hour or does it just go around checking for unlocked doors?

[Flat Fifth]

So "confront" and "secure" are now code words for viciously biting a person and taking them to the ground? Gotcha!

I will say, however, that reading an article involving the police and a dog where the dog doesn't end up getting shot is quite refreshing.

[some guy]

I would call it aggravated assault. And the dog didn't do it. The handler did. Or are we to believe that Livingston police now trust their dogs to make decisions about who to bite?

[Flat Fifth]

When the dog finds somebody in the building, he's going to secure him, and that's what happened. He did what he was supposed to do.

The police chief certainly seemed to indicate the dog was acting on his own accord. This is silly, of course. But it's sounds better than saying the police officers sicced on dog on an innocent man.

[Flat Fifth]

sicced a dog on an innocent man.

[WTF]

This sounds like the cops thought there might be a burglary in process, but they were too big of pussies to go in themselves and check it out so they sent the dog in to attack whoever might be inside.

[sarcasmic]

You really think they thought there was a burglary? Or did they just see an unlocked door and took it as an opportunity to poke around. Maybe steal, er, uh, confiscate a few things for themselves.

[WTF]

Well, I guess I was giving them a little benefit of the doubt, but you are likely correct on this.

[Invisible Finger]

"dog was sicced"

Remember: police = passive voice.

[Bean Counter]

You find it unlikely that they would trust the dog to decide who to bite? How naive! It's a highly trained police dog, trained by TOP....MEN. Of course we can trust it to decide who to bite.

[Harry A. Ness]

It should be noted the dog scored higher on his POST exams than the officers, therefore he outranked them at the time of the incident. We can be sure the dog applied the use-of-force matrix he learned about in the academy, therefore no more questions need even be asked.

[Rock Action]

Larf

Cops and dogs
Cops and dogs
Ooooweeeooooh

Cops and dogs
Cops and dogs
Ooooweeeooooh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H5rqaEzYcY

[db]

So what authorized the cops to be in the building at that hour?

[some guy]

They noticed the door was unlocked... so FYTW.

[Blinded by the Derp]

There was a big flashing sign that said unlocked come check it out

[Atanarjuat]

He did what he was supposed to do.

Then get rid of the canine units. Savage dog bites as a pre-conviction punishment have no place in a civilized society.

When I was locked up, a young man came in whose stitches were still fresh from an encounter with a police dog. He was a drug user and resisted the arrest somewhat. I remember he had stitches in several places on his body, but none of the wounds looked particularly severe save the ones on his ear, which the dog had pretty much shredded.

[Jerryskids]

Was this by any chance the Lee County (Ft. Myers, Florida) Jail circa 1980?

If so, I wasn't a drug user and I didn't resist arrest, I was passed out drunk in the back yard of my apartment complex and those fuckers just sicced the dog on me for the fun of it. The judge even laughed about the fact that the police report noted that I was unconscious but had been arrested for 'loitering and prowling' and he wanted to know how an unconscious person could be prowling.

I still have a suspicion that the dog tore into the side of my head because I was lying face-down and he couldn't get at my throat like he was trained to do. Lee County hires the sorts of cops that get kicked out of white supremacist groups for being too extremist.

Lee County is also where this sort of shit happens.

[SomeGuy]

you guy's making this up or were you two cell buddies?

[Suthenboy]

So, standard procedure is to viciously attack anyone remotely suspected of a crime before exploring the situation and making a confirmation.

Suppose the officers had not had the dog with them? The chief is actually saying their standard procedure is to shoot first and ask questions later.

[Cdr Lytton]

"It's acceptable for the dog to confront anybody in the business at that hour,"

Raney owns the business? There's a curfew in effect in Livingston, MT?

Let's see.. what would the charges be? Trespass, assault, burglary, abuse of authority... and aiding and abetting with a side of conspiracy. Is the dog license up to date?

[some guy]

I wonder what would happen if I noticed that my neighbors door was unlocked, let myself and my dog in and then ordered my dog to attack the first person I met inside... Well, knowing my neighbors I'd be shot, so Montana must be slipping.

[mnarayan]

"It's acceptable for the dog to confront anybody in the business at that hour," said Chief Darren Raney. "When the dog finds somebody in the building, he's going to secure him, and that's what happened. He did what he was supposed to do."

The dog is not the the problem here.

[UnCivilServant]

Why didn't the restaurant respond with lethal force against the armed thugs and their attack dog that broke into their premeses?

[SomeGuy]

because he was getting mauled by a dog and didn't have a weapon since he probably doesn't have the "right" to own one

[Jose Chung]

From the linked article: "Since the incident, nobody from the police department has apologized to him, Demaline said."

An apology could be confused with admitting to a mistake, and the state does not make mistakes, therefore no apology will be forthcoming.

[Matrix]

So if the guy had a gun and shot the dog that was viciously attacking him, what would happen to him?

[Flat Fifth]

Well, he'd be going to prison for killing an "officer", of course. When one is attacked by a dog, it is always prudent to first ask if he is a cop before taking any additional action.

[sarcasmic]

Well, he'd be going to prison for killing an "officer", of course.

Not if I was on the jury.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

"It's acceptable for the dog to confront anybody in the business at that hour," said Chief Darren Raney.

As I understand the English language, "anybody" includes even the owner. So, in Livingston, Montana, the police chief finds it acceptable to sic a dog on even the owner of a business depending on the time of time. What a fucking fuck.

[sarcasmic]

In a just world both the dog and the pigs would have been justifiably killed for trespass and assault with a deadly weapon. However we do not live in a just world.

[Finrod]

Exactly.

[Mainer2]

Just as he was preparing to leave, about 2:30 a.m., with salad and drink in hand, and reaching for his laptop, a black dog approached him from the front of the building, he said.

"Hey puppy," he remembers saying, because he loves dogs and is usually happy to see them. At first he thought the dog might belong to a homeless person who wandered in.

Unfortunately the dog didn't belong to some low life homeless person, but was the agent of our noble boys in blue. Thus, the violence.

[Rich]

riding in a patrol car to the hospital, one of the officers told him he at least could thank her for saving him the ambulance fare

Let the lawsuits begin.

[The Late P Brooks]

I am familiar with this. It makes no fucking sense whatsoever, no matter how you look at it.

It was shortly after closing time, so there was a very real likelihood one or more employee could legitimately be inside. This particular place is not a place where they would be likely to catch people drinking after hours, but even if that was their "plan" just opening the door and sending the dog in is completely insane.

The only explanation which makes any sense to me is that the cop(s) knew specifically that he was in there, and sent the dog in; presumably not to attack him, but to scare him. Then, of course, the wagons were circled.

If you were walking your East German Border Patrol attack dog and sent him into somebody's house because the door was open, they wouldn't put you in jail, they'd send you to an insane asylum.

[Paul.]

they wouldn't put you in jail, they'd send you to an insane asylum.

Or give you a uniform, a badge and a gun.

[Duke]

The lesson I have learned from all interactions with police, and articles about police is:

Being a police man means never having to say "I'm sorry."

[Paul.]

What about being a police woman?

[Tulpa (LAOL-VA)]

Hmm. Let's change the scenario a bit.

Suppose the cops went in to the restaurant "because the door was unlocked" and the owner's dog was inside and attacked them "because no one has business being there at that hour". How is this story going to be different?

[sarcasmic]

The dog would be dead and the owner would be handcuffed to a hospital bed after a severe revenge beating by the cops who killed his dog. Meanwhile every code inspector in town would have descended onto the restaurant in an effort to find (or manufacture) an excuse to shut it down, and the owner would be facing a tax audit. Basically, the guy's life would be ruined.

[Virginian]

Oh by the way, Livingston MT has a population of 7000. It's a fucking small town. They should have Barney Fife, not a goddamn attack dog.

[Bean Counter]

Well, with such a large populace how could you expect the cops to know the owner of one of the many local restaurants? It's not like it was a donut shop.
The bottom line is, officer safety is now paramount, trumping such petty concerns as citizen safety. And it all started with Columbine, where several teenagers and a teacher died while cops were held back by their commanders until they were sure that the cops could enter safely. The government is now officially run for the safety and convenience of the government employees, who are our natural superiors.

[The Late P Brooks]

They should have Barney Fife, not a goddamn attack dog.

That ship has flown.

[Paul.]

Dogs were sicced, people were bitten...