Midvale police officer killed

There is just one slight problem with my subject line. It's misleading because the "officer" killed wasn't human.

It was a dog.

A police service dog. A dog utilized within the K-9 unit of the Midvale City Police Department.

I had no idea about this story until my mom shared it with me earlier today. It wasn't the tragedy that I'm about to make light of. It was what took place after the fact. This news is fairly old to those here in Utah that watch the news. But it's new to me. Therefore, I had to sound off about it.

But before I go off on a rant that is sure to piss off some, let me make it clear here... I'm not trying to be cruel or inhumane about this terrible incident. I'm just expressing my opinion on something that I feel is completely silly.

The death of the animal is not silly. But the events following the dog's death are. At least, they are to me. Does this make me a bad person? Does it make me a hater of dogs in general? No. I just don't know when to shut my mouth. And, quite frankly, this entire story pisses me off.

To give you an idea of what it is I'm going to bitch about, let me first send you over to my affiliate, Wendy Leonard, of the Deseret News. Here she does a report on the incident that took place that led to the police service dog's death.

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Midvale police dog is slain; man killed

Shootout occurs after what officers say was an attempted burglary

By: Wendy Leonard - Deseret News
Published: Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010 12:26 a.m.

MIDVALE — A man shot and killed a Midvale city police dog Friday night while officers were chasing him and two other men during what police say was an attempted burglary. In the shooting melee, one of the men was shot by police and taken to the hospital with serious injuries and later died, according to Midvale Police Chief Tony Mason.

"Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. It sounded just like firecrackers," said Midvale resident Colton Bain. He and his wife were watching a movie in an apartment, near 6700 South and 625 East, when the shots rang out just before 8:30 p.m. Since it was New Year's Day, Bain thought it wasn't anything out of the ordinary until he heard police shouting orders and saw myriad lights outside his window.

"We could see sparks coming from their guns," he said. "We laid down on the balcony and watched because we didn't want to get shot."

Bain said the area is typically very quiet, aside from freeway traffic running through the area.

Police responded to what was called in to dispatchers as a burglary in progress in the area, and the three men tried to escape over a 20-foot concrete retaining wall onto I-215. Police K-9s were called to the scene, as well as officers from other departments. Late Friday, police weren't sure how many shots were fired, but the area was secured for an overnight investigation.

"It's always a close call," Mason said. "They obviously feared for their lives, and this was what came of it."

The chief said the incident was being treated as an "officer-involved shooting," in which the officers involved will be placed on leave throughout the investigation. The dog's handler was present and, Mason said, "it's obviously very emotional for him." In addition to the Midvale officer and dog, an officer from the Cottonwood Heights Police Department was also on scene when the shooting occurred.

Koda, a Belgian Malinois, had been in service with the Midvale K-9 squad a little over a year but had just finished a second Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training course with a new handler a couple months ago. He was pronounced dead on location.

All three men, including the one taken to the hospital, were in police custody Friday night. Shortly after they fled, they were apprehended in the backyard of a residence. Police closed the road to all traffic while they investigated.

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Okay, so here we have a senseless tragedy. Some douche bag, worthless criminals were up to no good and got caught. They tried to escape and opened fire on the responding police officers. In the process, they shot a police service dog and killed it. Very sad.

Now to follow-up on this story, let's go to Fields Moseley of KUTV Channel 2 and his report on funding for a new police service dog for the Midvale City Police Department. Fields?

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Thanks, Mike.

Midvale Police will be able to replace a canine officer shot in the line of duty with money from the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office.

"He was a very good dog and he did his job that night and saved police officer's lives," said Chief Tony Mason.

Koda was a three year old Belgian malinois. He was shot and killed January 1st while chasing a burglary suspect.

"Just a week before this occurred he had found a pound of marijuana in a car," said Mason of the well-liked dog.

Mason said the department only had two dogs. Kasch is still on duty. Even with donations from the public, there was little hope of replacing Koda.

"With the tough times and the budget cuts, it probably would've been quite a while before we would have been able to come up with some funding to replace Koda," said Mason.

The story might have ended there, but District Attorney, Lohra Miller, was moved by the loss of the canine officer. Her office explored the idea of using money from the Asset Forfeiture Fund.

"It's the attorney's fees we get for taking cases through the court to seize assets from drug dealers and criminals that are using it for illegal purposes," Miller said.

The money has to go to helping prosecute drug cases. Miller and the Salt Lake County Council has spent most of it upgrading computer systems in the District Attorney's offices. The council approved the $10,000 for the dog this week.

Midvale Police will never forget Koda, but another police dog, means his work will continue.

"We have an agreement with all the other surrounding agencies that all the canines on duty come and they all help. They all train together and work together, so that dog won't just be for Midvale. He'll be helping out all over the valley," said Mason.

Platt Electric Supply Company donated $4,000 and a private plane to fly officers back from California next week. They will be there picking out the new dog.

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Okay, before I get to the really juicy part of this blog, let me first invite you to watch a portion of the FUNERAL SERVICES for the fallen police service dog. That's right... I said FUNERAL SERVICES. Let's go to KSL News Channel 5 for that story:



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A private plane? A 10,000 dollar dog? Wouldn't it be cheaper to train some mutt from the mean streets of Salt Lake City? Are you fucking kidding me with this?

I do find it quite poetic that the new police service dog was funded by seized drug money.

I'll tell you what really chaps my hide about this entire thing. The police service dog was given FUNERAL SERVICES fit for a fallen peace officer, firefighter or military personnel. Including a procession and officers in their dress uniforms.

IT WAS A DOG!

I can't begin to describe how angry this makes me. This dog may have been a part of the police force, but it is an animal. Not a human being. A human putting their life on the line everyday in every type of situation is far more worthy of such respect and admiration than a damn dog!

And I'm sure this ridiculous funeral for this DOG cost the taxpayers a pretty penny to put on such a charade. This totally downplays the important role of such emotional events for an actual fallen, HUMAN officer killed in the line of duty.

Yes, this dog was a big part to assisting police officers. But it's not a police officer. It's a trained animal that is used for the EXACT purpose that got it killed. It is there to protect, assist, apprehend and DIE for the safety of it's human handlers and the community it serves.

I can totally appreciate and respect the role of a police service animal.

But being shot and killed "in the line of duty" has no meaning for a dog. Of course, many animal lovers out there would dispute this with me. Actually, many crazed animal lovers out there might even KILL me for having such an opinion as the one I'm presently sharing.

I DO NOT AGREE with a police service dog getting the same kind of treatment, funeral and honor guard that a fallen police officer (or any other type of credible service personnel) would receive. I find it degrading and insulting for the men and women serving their communities that are in far more greater danger everyday than what happened on this fateful night.

Personally, I think all officers should just have a crazed animal to release on anyone that is suspect. That way if the suspect turns out to be dangerous and pulls out a weapon, the animal would be the first to come into harms way saving it's AUTHENTIC human police handler.

Do you know how many dogs you could buy from the Humane Society for 10,000 dollars? I was amazed at that figure when I read it. 10 GRAND for a police service dog? Jesus! Does it speak Spanish for that price tag? Does it get a pension and life insurance? Are they raising and training these service animals at the finest resorts? Are they only fed a diet of the best cuts of beef and drink only the finest Evian water?

I'm not trying to be a dick and downplay the role of a reliable way to curb crime and apprehend criminals but what the hell? I say put the money to purchasing regular ol' mutts (and even cats) from animal shelters for use in active police roles in the field.

If an officer pulls over a couple of individuals in a stolen car, throw a cat pumped up on catnip in the car to claw the suspects in such a way that it throws them off from causing any harm to officers and/or property.

And should a weapon be drawn in the melee, let the cat take the beat-down while providing officers ample time and warning to open fire and kill every last motherfucking criminal in said stolen car.

If we can use animals for testing on a variety of chemicals and pre-market health care drugs, let's start using the nation's growing overpopulation of household pets to subdue criminals!

Is that drunk driver getting a little lippy during a sobriety check? Beat the offending drunk with a feisty ferret! Not only are they long and creepy but they claw, bite and smell! An officer is called out to a scene of domestic battery? Throw an AIDS infested rat in the abuser's pants to really teach that person a lesson!

But should the animal die while doing it's duty, we can save even more of the taxpayers money by dropping the dead animal in a shoebox and burying them in the yard like everyone else.

I suppose this means that this fallen dog is going to wind up with a place on the Fallen Police Officer's Memorial up at the State Capitol, huh? Maybe if we get enough dead animals we can build a whole different memorial in their honor.

Now if we could just put aborted fetuses to use as a way to prevent crime.

-Mike The Janitor
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Millenoma Publishing