President spcaLA
On March 29, a Garden Grove police officer shot and killed Jax, a 2-year-old pit bull terrier, the family pet of Steve Pudiquet, while [police] were at his residence executing a search warrant for illegal drugs.
They knew in advance that there would be a dog, Jax, on the scene and brought a fire extinguisher and catch pole with them to handle him.
First, despite the fact that some self-proclaimed experts suggest a fire extinguisher in this instance, most real experts disagree. Spraying the dog often enrages him and could cause him to race, blinded by the chemicals, in all directions, out of control, and endanger all in the vicinity, including passersby. Frequently, the officers spray and blind each other instead. More important, this could set up a need to use lethal force not present at the outset.
Second, a catch pole requires a lot of training and constant practice to use effectively.
Third, just as you would not send officers to a drug raid with only one or two guns to share, sending a group with one tool does not help the other officers at the scene should they need to defend themselves. Training all officers in appropriate canine threat assessment and adapting a command presence that is more appropriate for dogs is essential for them to minimize the need for lethal force.
There is a course offered by spcaLA that does just that. Dog Behavior for Law Enforcement was developed specifically with law enforcement in mind and offers real-life scenarios to meet the needs of officers. Dog Behavior for Law Enforcement is certified by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), which gives participants continuing-education credits for course completion. The course is reinforced with the most current and credible information available from an array of recognized, respected leaders in animal-science fields.
The Garden Grove Police Department needs to enroll. There are questions here that need answering.
Why did they not ask our humane officers or animal-control officers to accompany them for the sole purpose of expertly handling the dog? They had the luxury of time to plan as this was a warrant execution unlike a surprise encounter. A bad plan doesn’t count.
Did one officer shoot five times or did five officers shoot once? Approximately five bullets were shot into the dog. Shooting that many shots is a threat to the public and each other as they can miss or the bullets can ricochet and wound an innocent bystander of another officer. A bullet might also injure the dog but not stop him from becoming angry and more dangerous. When they retrieve the bullets during the necropsy we will know the answer to this question.
There are times that an officer must use lethal force to protect him or herself. Nobody is quarreling with that. Where the officers find themselves criminally and civilly liable is when the justification for lethal force is not present. When this happens, an otherwise righteous law-enforcement action becomes a payday for a criminal and everyone suffers. Hence my last question— why don’t they help themselves?
If anyone out there has video of the actual shooting event, please send it to us at info@spcaLA.com. We would love to analyze it and incorporate into the training class.
Editor’s note: The Signal Tribune reached out to the Garden Grove Police Department, which provided the following statement:
Our agency has reached out to spcaLA, and we are interested in receiving additional training for our officers offered by their organization.
Our officers went to this search warrant with a plan to try and control the dog, and that is why a fire extinguisher filled with CO2/water and a catch pole were brought. The CO2/water fire extinguisher is used to spray at the dog if it aggressively charges the officers. This is used in lieu of lethal force to give us more time to react to the dog and attempt to catch it. While [officers attempted] to control the dog inside the house, it became aggressive, and the fire extinguisher was used. Our officers then attempted to catch the dog using the catch pole. Unfortunately, the dog escaped through a window that had exterior bars on it. The dog squeezed through the bars and encountered officers on the perimeter. Our officers did not anticipate the dog escaping through a window. The dog attacked our officers who were on the perimeter of the house, and lethal force was used.
SpcaLA suggested bringing in an animal-control officer on the warrant. We did not want to risk the safety of an unarmed civilian animal-control officer while we were serving the warrant.This was a dangerous search warrant with possibly firearms accessible inside the residence. We were in the process of clearing the residence, and we did not know if there were armed suspects inside the room where the dog was encountered.
SpcaLA said they could provide additional training to help officers better understand dog behavior and said there are additional tools available for officers to use. Our department values the lives of animals, and if further training will help protect our officers and animals, we look forward to working with SPCALA to help train our officers.
