Cop shoots litter of kittens in front of screaming children

[Akasa]

And so far the Chief of Police says he's done no wrong.

http://www.alternet.org/cop-shot-lit...aming-children

There's a petition here calling for the officer's job: http://www.change.org/petitions/the-...share_petition

That petition link may not work.. I signed it before getting the url and it's saying "signed" for me.

[Gravekeeper]

Saw this on the news the other day. Complete WTF. Even if he was somehow justified, discharging a firearm in a residential area can't possible be regulation.

Though it should be noted an animal control officer is not a cop.

[crashhelmet]

Honestly, this says a lot about the psychological profile of this cop. This guy isn't healthy.

Not only was this a complete waste of ammunition and a risk to others in the area, it was completely sociopathic.

Not only would I fire this guy, but I'd be going through his arrest records and looking for any complaints or signs of excessive force.

[HEMI6point1]

What a fucking a-hole. That's about as nicely as I'll put it.

[Jaden]

This reads like an Onion article, especially the title. I can't believe this actually happened. It's like somebody was trying to be as evil in as cliche a way as possible.

[Greenday]

This reads like an Onion article, especially the title. I can't believe this actually happened. It's like somebody was trying to be as evil in as cliche a way as possible.

The only thing that bothers me is that not one normal news source. I'm not sure what to make of that.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

The problem with the petition is going to hinge on whether or not what the officer did was illegal or against policy.

If it was neither, then there is no legal recourse to have him removed from the force. Doing so would be like demanding that a repo man be fired for repossessing an elderly woman's car for non-payment.

Now just because it's policy (if that turns out to be the case) doesn't mean that it's the correct thing to do under the circumstances. The police really need to pay attention to the "Protect and Serve" that's usually on their badges. This is part of the image they project.

The smart thing to have done in this case is to have gotten some humane traps and captured the cat and her kittens and transported them to a shelter. If they were non-re-homable then they could have been put down humanely and more importantly...discretely.

Allowing the parents to keep the children from getting stressed out at the thought of the kittens getting killed. It's a white lie that would not harm the child and in a week would likely be forgotten.

Seeing the kittens blown away by an officer and his sidearm...that's going to stick for a while longer. Possibly for a lifetime.

It's also the sort of thing that could prevent the children from ever developing a trust in the police. Imagine a child who saw an officer blow a kitten away being lost in a mall. The police (or at least similarly uniformed security personnel) are summoned to look for the child. Child sees these people, remembers the dead kittens, and hides from them. Either out of fear of themselves being shot, or more likely out of anger and mistrust.

[Ladeeda]

Is there a video? Because people can make any old shit up and have people believe it.

Yeah, I can believe a cop could be sociopathic enough to shoot kittens [a nearly proven cure for cancer], but unless there is more than "cause I said", I shall remain skeptical.

[Andara Bledin]

This is a real story. Just use the HO's name as a search reference.

Apparently, in Ohio, shooting is a legitimate form of euthanasia. So, his shooting of the kittens (who were old enough that it was likely they were not feasibly adoptable in an already overcrowded system) is a non-issue.

The fact that he chose to shoot them on the property is the problem. I'd have to wonder why he would possibly think that doing so would be acceptable to the homeowner?

However, the headline is pure rage porn. It's possible that the HO didn't even know there were children in the home, and they certainly weren't outside when he did the shooting. Hell, it wasn't even "in front of" the woman who had called him, as she was around the side of the house at the time. That the children screamed over it, however, was true.

[Ladeeda]

This is a real story. Just use the HO's name as a search reference.
.

Or you can link it, since I"m lazy, and searches don't result in perfectly accurate results.

Search "Sherlock Series 3" if you want false info.

[Gravekeeper]

The only thing that bothers me is that not one normal news source. I'm not sure what to make of that.

It hasn't made it up to a national news story, but its been on a ton of other news sites and on TV. The mom has been interviewed on TV ( and that wood pile where the kittens were is like 10-15 feet from her house tops ). There's even actual pictures of said kittens before they were shot if you're not pissed off enough yet.

Even if you could disregard the animal cruelty, he discharged a weapon right next to a residence without any warning.

That level of unfeeling towards an animal is definitely sociopathic though. I also question his on site judgement that the kittens were unadoptable. Feral kittens can be tamed if handled properly. Even untamable feral cats can still make good barn / ranch cats. There are cat shelters that specialize in feral cats as well.

Also, again, a humane officer is not a cop. A humane officer has no formal police training.

[Greenday]

This is a real story. Just use the HO's name as a search reference.

Basically just a lot of tabloid-like sources.

[Andara Bledin]

For those too lazy to do any legwork on their own and those whose Google-fu has failed them, #3 on my results list:

Article at KSDK, byline WKYC

After the auto-play ad (can be muted, thankfully), you get video, too.

[Ladeeda]

And at what time in that video is the shooting of kittens?

Lazy, yanno? but that IS the swing vote.

[Gravekeeper]

This has gone beyond lazy and into Let Me Google That For You(tm) territory. -.-

I wasn't aware the SPCA was a tabloid.