Donald W. Cook is a Los Angeles attorney with decades of experience bringing lawsuits over police dog bites — and mostly losing. He blames what he calls "The Rin Tin Tin Effect" — juries think of police dogs as noble, and have trouble visualizing how violent they can be during an arrest.
"[Police] use terms like 'apprehend' and 'restrain,' to try to portray it as a very antiseptic event," Cook says. "But you look at the video and the dog is chewing away on his leg and mutilating him."
Cook says the proliferation of smart phones and body cameras is capturing a reality that used to be lost on juries. "If it's a good video, it makes a case much easier to prevail on," he says.
The latest high-definition body cameras worn by police provide especially clear views. Cook collects these videos on his computer, and what strikes him is the degree of bloody violence the dogs can inflict.
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It's really simple folks, don't run from the Police.
ReplyDeleteOh poor criminals...wish it was worse
ReplyDeleteEncouraging police dogs to mutilate a suspect while he is on the ground, surrounded by cops, is police brutality. No juror, and certainly not me, can see it any other way. The one police dog, that the handler could not pull off the suspect, should be put down like any other dangerous animal. It was not under the handler's control. The use of the dogs to apprehend a suspect should be regulated just like the use of guns, tasers, and nightsticks. They are deadly force.
ReplyDeleteI really don't care what happens to people that commit crime.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteI really don't care what happens to people that commit crime.
November 22, 2017 at 9:30 AM;
One can only hope you are falsely accused by an overzealous cop someday, and have to suffer the same fate that others suffer when falsely accused. Cops are not judges and juries, and they don't determine guilt. May they abuse you sufficiently enough that you change your mind how SUSPECTS are treated.
this is a disgrace.. those not presenting a threat should sue and win!!!
ReplyDeletePlain and simple- Don't break the law!
ReplyDeleteNo sympathy for POS criminals. They deserve any pain and suffering they get.
ReplyDelete