In tales of police brutality that seem never ending, a police officer in Cleburne, Texas was cleared from any wrong doing after he was seen on video slaying a family pet. The video, which caused mass outrage when it was leaked last October, shows the officer calling the dog to him and then firing three shots into the animal. The officer, Keven Dupre, contests that the dog was showing signs of impending attack.
Mayor Scott Cain assured the public they had looked into the matter thoroughly. “We have a 28-page report. One of the most thorough reports of an investigation that I have seen. The long and short of it is that at the end of his conclusion he found that the officer did
not violate any laws and that he was justified in the shooting.”
However, for those watching the video, which you can view here (although be aware it contains graphic and disturbing content) you can clearly see two Pit Bulls wagging their tails as they approach the officer.
An independent investigator was hired by the city to look into the charges. However, his take on the video was quite different. According to the Cleburne Times Review, “When you look at those two segments and you slow it down, you see a body position change of the brown pit bull. He takes an aggressive stance. Most notably in
both of them you see his ears pin back,” he said. “Then in the second scene you see his front quarters get into an attack type position and you can tell that his mouth is open. Then he goes out of screen and that’s the time the officer says the dog was coming up.”
However, despite the city claiming the officer’s innocence, that same day new policies for officers dealing with animals became effective. Included was a mandate to make sure all officers had canine encounter training. A strange move considering the officer was apparently handled the situation correctly.
Some believe that the dog’s breed likely played a role in the officer’s killing of it. In a study that looked at attitudes on Pit Bulls in America, it showed that the dangerous stereotype of the dog persists. “Pit bulls today have been called ‘[w]alking horror shows’ ’predators of the...
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Posted By: Jeni Fa
Monday, December 29th 2014 at 11:06AM
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