Off-leash police dog bites woman in face
By adamg - 7/22/09 - 11:42 am
The Globe reports a woman walking her own dog down Sturbridge Street in Mattapan this morning was attacked and bitten in the face by a Boston Police dog whose handler lives on the street.
Comments
I think they have the address wrong
Looks like #36 is a couple houses down. That's the house on the corner of Sturbridge and Monson. There's usually a K-9 cop car in the driveway--you can actually see it in Google Street View.
I heard the chopper this morning. Wondered what the hell that was all about.
I believe you are right
I think it is 30 Sturbridge St. Bill Willis is a K-9 cop who lives there. Based on the kinds of documentaries he has made and plans to make and the press they have received, it seems like he's one of the good guys. You can watch an interview he did for Greater Boston on WGBH and his entire documentary "Shot in the Hood" through his website. It seems like this incident was just a very unfortunate accident.
Off Leash Police Dog
Attacks woman walking her dog according to the Globe.
Post updated
With a link to the more detailed Globe story. Thanks.
That's terrible
"The neighbor did not want her name published because she feared retaliation by the dog's handler, a police officer who lives on Sturbridge Street."
Pretty high stakes involved. The dog could be put down, the city will have to pay up (liability is a no-brainer), and the cop could even lose his house (usually insurance companies don't like to cover homeowners with vicious animals, as they figure in the liability chain).
When dogs bite, it's usually the face. Poor woman. At least the perp has deep pockets.
ya beat me to it, swirly...
That's the scuttlebutt in the neighborhood, too--the dog went after another dog and got away from his handler. I heard it was a mini-Dobie that got attacked.
FWIW, we got more press up in here this morning than when there was an actual homicide in the neighborhood.
quick, someone call Al Sharpton
Well connected, loudmouth Harvard Professor throws a hissy fit with the cops and is put in handcuffs and booked...world screams blue bloody murder.
Woman has face chewed off by vicious police dog, nobody gives a hoot.
It's okay
The police dog wasn't white.
If we're both lucky, the
If we're both lucky, the next time someone gets arrested in their own home for a public disturbance, it'll be you. Then we can all scream blue bloody murder and you can have another hissy fit. This thread is about about a dog bite?
nice way of "taking full responsibility"
BPD PR officer: "This is just a case of a dog going after another dog and unfortunately another woman got involved"
and then:
Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis visited the woman in the hospital and "was very apologetic and he took full responsibly for what happened"
....So, which is it?
Police Dogs attacking pets is okay then?
If the woman hadn't been bitten protecting her dog, and the dog had been attacked and killed, then the PR flack would think that that's okay?
Really?
How about "a case of an animal who should have been trained and disciplined to not attack people or other animals without direct command to do so got out of the control of his responsible officer". Seriously.
Translation
BPD PR officer: "We have a lack of remorse and a cavalier disregard for public safety. We normally let our dogs kill other animals when they feel like it, and that stupid woman shouldn't have gotten in the way. The dog and the cop are both behind the blue line, so fuck you."
Police commissioner visits woman in hospital to apologize
The Herald reports, adds both the cop and his wife are in the hospital - due to stress.
The officer who is the human
The officer who is the human part of the K-9 unit is in the hospital for stress. Where have I heard this before? Citizen harmed during interaction with BPD officer(s) and officer(s) involved got to hospital for "stress."
I hope the newspapers in town follow up on this trend. I'll wager it tracks to the BPD union.
IMO, It appears to be an effort to deflect accountability.
Next time, we'll hear the the BPD dog is at Angel Memorial for stress.
Code
"Hiking the Appalachian trail" = "In Argentina visiting his mistress."
"In the hospital being treated for stress" = "Out of the public eye until they memorize the set of lies our lawyers decided on."
You would think that if
You would think that if their stress is so disabling so as to put them in the hospital, that their commanding officer would put them on administrative duty, and require them to submit their sidearm, until a full psychological evaluation produced a clean bill of health.
The practice, if it is a practice, makes the officer unavailable and therefore unaccountable at a critical time during an investigation. It is neither transparent or accountable which are two essential principles of open government in a democratic republic.