Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Highway Patrol chief weighs steps merited by dog shooting

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 23:54:40 -0500

What no Dictaphone??  And this is the solution for Public Safety?

"It was found that some of the communication between dispatchers was
made on a Nextel-type two-way instead of a recorded telephone or radio
line, therefore cannot be absolutely confirmed," Womack said.
=======================================================
Highway Patrol chief weighs steps merited by dog shooting ;
Procedural changes, discipline considered
Source: News Sentinel
Publication date: 2003-01-11
Arrival time: 2003-01-23

Tennessee Highway Patrol Col. Mark Fagan will decide what punishments,
if any, will be meted out to the state troopers connected to the Jan. 1
shooting of a dog on Interstate 40.

Fagan will also determine if policy changes are needed.

"The colonel's office is now looking at what, if any, policies or procedures
may have been violated and what, if any, disciplinary action is appropriate,"
said Beth Womack, Tennessee Department of Safety spokeswoman.

Although investigators have pored over all the audio- and videotaped
information recorded during the traffic stop and shooting, Womack indicated
that at least some conversations were not recorded.

"It was found that some of the communication between dispatchers was
made on a Nextel-type two-way instead of a recorded telephone or radio
line, therefore cannot be absolutely confirmed," Womack said.

In a written incident report filed after the shooting, Cookeville officer Eric Hall
said he asked a dispatcher "what felony had been committed" as he drove
to assist troopers but didn't find that out before arriving.

Hall said it appeared the dog singled him out "from the other officers and
charged toward me, grouling (sic) in an aggressive manner. I yelled at the
dog to "Get Back" but it attempted to circle me to attack, so I felt I had no
other option but to protect myself. I fired once at the dog instantly putting it
down."

"When asked during our investigation why the passenger door was not
closed, Lieutenant (Jerry) Andrews indicated that if he or another officer had
moved to that side of the car, he would have been in the line of any potential
crossfire," Womack said in a press release. "Remember - at this time, the
troopers on the scene were still under the impression that a felony may have
been committed and were acting accordingly."

After the shooting, James Smoak tried to stand up but was wrestled _down
by troopers. After he was put in a patrol car, he repeatedly asked the
officers to get a veterinarian but his requests were ignored. "You all have
gone crazy," he said.

Later, after the officers determined the family had committed no crime, they
gave Smoak a plastic bag to collect the dog's carcass after he told them to
leave his former pet alone. "You've done enough," he said.

After the officers removed the handcuffs from Pamela Smoak, she sank to
the ground and cried. "I'm never stepping foot in this state again," she said.

Womack said the state had not offered to compensate the Smoaks for the
loss of their pet.

In a written complaint against the officers, Pamela Smoak lashed out at the
handling of the initial phone call.

"No one ever called in a robbery or any felony!" Smoak wrote. "A felony stop
should not have been made. A murder has been committed by the
Tennessee Highway Patrol. ... There was a very bad error on someone's
part, and we paid for it."
http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=36126316&ID=cnniw&scategory=Business+and+Finance&

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