West Branch, Iowa, was the birthplace of Herbert Hoover. There would have been a time when an affiliation with Herbert Hoover might not have been touted very much. West Branch had another problem in 2002, a police chief who shot a dog. On February 28 of that year, the city administrator got a call about a large black dog running loose and bothering other dogs. The police chief, Dan Knight, drove around the neighborhood in his squad car and saw the dog several times. The Eighth Circuit describes what happened next: “Finally, Knight parked his...
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Border Patrol Trains More Canine Teams, but Will Remain Undermanned, Underdogged at Least Till 2014
The Government Accountability Office, in a recent report looking at issues facing the Border Patrol, cited officials of the agency as saying that it does not have enough canine teams at borders, particularly in the southwest. Agency officials note that with the increasing sophistication of smugglers of drugs and illegal aliens, the dogs are necessary to detect the contents of concealed compartments. The Border Patrol expected to add 180 canine...
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Plaintiff's Expert Cannot Testify, but Juror Tells Other Jurors About Police Dogs in Excessive Force Case
A 2005 case against an officer and the City of Albuquerque for use of excessive force in an arrest shows a number of odd, if not disturbing, elements. The suit was brought by the passenger in a car involved in a high speed chase. The passenger was bitten by a police dog after the car hit a wall. The officer’s reason for attempting to pull over a car with two women in it was that the car was similar to one on which a bulletin had been issued regarding a burglary. The car with the women had a broken license plate lamp and was not the car involved...
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Working Off-Leash with Police Dog Does Not Produce Liability for Officer
A case that reached the Eighth Circuit in 2003 shows how complicated police responsibilities can sometimes be. Police officers in Duluth received a complaint about a party two blocks from Lake Superior. They began to breath test some of the people at the party, and directed a UM honors student and football player named Dennen to get in the testing queue. Instead, Dennen, who was visibly drunk, went upstairs and tried to hide under a futon. When an officer found him under the futon, he was again told to step outside for a breath test. Dennen...
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