Public should be told more about how dog was shot

Public should be told more about how dog was shot

America loves dogs. Witness that even in a time of economic distress, war, tax protests and piracy on the high seas, no media outlet dared ignore the arrival of “Bo,” a Portuguese water dog, at the White House.

These canine-loving inclinations allow emotions to cloud any debate that involves the death of a dog. Describe the dog as a lovable 7-month-old puppy that was shot 13 times, and the emotional fog becomes almost too thick to penetrate.

And so it is that we must put our faith in an internal affairs investigation at the Youngstown Police Department to determine whether a city patrolman acted reasonably in shooting “Diva,” a 42-pound Akita owned by Curtis Moses of East Lucius Avenue.

Quick responses

Tuesday’s Vindicator report on the shooting of “Diva” after police pursued a young suspect into the house sparked immediate reactions by talk radio callers and posters on Vindy.com. The battle lines were clearly drawn between those convinced that the police officer overreacted and those who blamed the young men who were being pursued for allegedly firing shots from their car. Without their misconduct, there would have been no confrontation. Police Chief Jimmy Hughes said the dog came after the police officer, leaving him no choice but to open fire, protecting his life and that of other officers.

Absent a videotape, of which there is none, some people will never be disabused of their initial assessment. But a thorough and transparent investigation of the incident by internal affairs could set at ease undecided minds.

This is not just about the death of a dog, but about the level of professionalism in the department, how officers conduct themselves under stress and whether there is a need for additional training. Some cases require the involvement of an outside agency. This is not one of them. The people of Youngstown should be able to trust internal affairs to conduct an impartial investigation that will tell them what they need to know.

Look and listen

Independent statements from all the officers on the scene should have been taken by now. The investigator can examine them for inconsistencies.

And he can listen to the audio tapes of conversations between officers and dispatch to gauge the level of professionalism that existed during the chase and its unfortunate aftermath.

The officers were responding to reports of shots being fired from a dark-colored sedan. After officers in the first cruiser spotted the car, they attempted to pull it over. A chase covering more than a mile of South Side streets ensued, involving at least two cruisers. Three suspects ran to a house. Two were apprehended on the porch, the third ran inside and, it was deduced, into the basement. The dog emerged from the basement, behaving in what police described as a threatening manner, and was shot.

Not long ago, the nation heard recordings of an air traffic controller and a pilot who was about to ditch his airliner in the Hudson River. Neither voice so much as rose in pitch throughout.

That’s an extraordinary standard, and police in hot pursuit may not be expected to maintain that level of calm. But they must control their emotions, and the tone found on voice recordings should help establish if they were.

That young men are roaming city streets firing weapons is frightening on more levels than we can list. The collateral loss of a young dog that was clearly loved by his owners is sad. But it would be sadder still if mistakes were made (beyond the obvious one by the young men who initiated the chase), and those mistakes were not fully explored and exposed and appropriate corrective action taken.