A Louisville police officer let his dog attack a 14-year-old Black child who was not resisting.

[ItsjustMe]

A Louisville police officer let his dog attack a 14-year-old Black child who was not resisting. As the dog 'gnawed' on the child's arm, the officer said 'stop fighting my dog,' DOJ said in bombshell report

A Louisville Metro Police officer unleashed his police dog on a 14-year-old Black boy who was spotted lying on the ground, leading to severe injuries and hospitalization, according to a report published on Wednesday by the Department of Justice.

The findings are part of the DOJ's broader two-year investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department and the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government that was launched after Breonna Taylor was killed during a raid by seven officers in March 2020.

The police dog incident occurred during a search for a home invasion suspect, according to the DOJ, which reviewed a video of the encounter. The date of the incident and the name of the officer were not disclosed.

"The officer was leading his dog to search for a person suspected of a home invasion. After searching for several minutes, the officer saw the teenager lying on the ground, face down in the grass," the Justice Department wrote in its report. "Immediately after noticing the teen, the officer deployed his dog off-leash — without giving any warning — and ordered the dog to bite the teen at least seven times."

[RockRaven]

1. Can we shine a spotlight on the shitty headline writer who soft-pedals "ordered" as "let"...?

As the article explicitly states, he "ORDERED the dog to bite the teen at least seven times" (emphasis mine)

This "stop fighting my dog" shit is the same stuff that cops pull when they yell "stop resisting" as the beat people to death who are already handcuffed or unconscious -- it's a vocal performance for their recording devices, to try to justify their actions when/if they get called out on the result.

[catrose]

4. That was my first thought

I've seen several presentations by police and their dogs, and they stress that the dogs attack when ordered. Heck, in their demonstrations, they ordered the dogs to attack other policeman (in protective clothing). The dogs don't go freelance and start biting. The audience might have been in danger otherwise.

[Haggard Celine]

2. I see news items all the time about police dogs

attacking people. They shouldn't allow the police to have those dogs. Mishaps are reported about them all of the time, and a lot of the cops who work with the dogs try to make the dogs vicious. I can see them using dogs to sniff for bombs, but they shouldn't be used to attack suspects or even sniff for drugs.

[OldBaldy1701E]

3. Bingo!

It is cruel and unusual for humans to force animals to enter dangerous situations that they are too cowardly to handle themselves. Then, they 'mourn' the animal when it dies from being forced to do something it would normally not be inclined to do. It is sadistic.