Law Enforcement
Canine Copper Chomps “Hostage”
December 9, 2011 
One of the local canine coppers made the news Friday when a woman was reportedly “possibly being held against her will” at a northwest Boise home.
The four-legged cop dog was sent in when the suspect refused to come out and promptly bit the female “hostage.” Police said the wounds were not life threatening. The suspect eventually was arrested on outstanding warrants.
Such incidents are not uncommon. A few years back one of the Boise PD dogs chomped down on a female city attorney in a wheelchair who was working late at city hall. Coppers were conducting a training exercise that time.
Then there was the dog that escaped from a patrol car and grabbed the family jewels of a man who was standing outside another patrol car handcuffed. He received a cash settlement and now sings soprano.
Of course to be fair to the dogs we have to mention the incident at the zoo where a tiger escaped out the back of a cage and attacked a female visitor. The cop shot the woman, but missed the tiger in that case. Police initially passed that one off as a “ricochet,” but later declared the copper a hero for scaring the tiger away with the gunshot since he was acting in good faith. Another cash settlement to cover the leg wound.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Dec 10, 2011, 7:13 am
Don’t forget the time they all chased that guy from Nampa, finally stopped him at Broadway and Myrtle. God only knows how many bullets and how many cops.. but I think they hit him once or twice.
EDITOR NOTE–We were going down memory lane for “friendly fire” and “collateral damage” rather than serious incidents. Humorous to all but those involved.
Dec 10, 2011, 9:22 am
Sorry I just can’t support bad dogs.
Trained or other wise.
Dec 10, 2011, 12:07 pm
The use of any kind of force must be weighed with risk v. benefit. In this case with the dog unleashed with a hostage what were the risks to the hostage if nothing was done?
Time and talk never result in injuries to anyone. Patience can cool down overheated circumstances but when you have a tool box full of goodies the urge to deploy them can exacerbate situations. I am sure there will be an Ombudsman investigation of this incident.
Dec 10, 2011, 5:42 pm
K-9 Corp or Canine Corps or ?
With the police of either two or four legs it is a matter of training, and hope that good judgement can and will prevail. Have to agree with Paul, the tendency to use the weapons available in the arsenal sometimes outweigh what turns out to be a more reasonable option.
Dec 10, 2011, 11:54 pm
Learn some basic commands in German
Dec 11, 2011, 9:10 am
Ombudsman investigation well we know how that will come out.
Dec 12, 2011, 6:22 pm
And, don’t forget the time…Geez, how about thinking about the hundreds of good times, the ones where the police saved someone because of their bravery, how about the times they have gone in the river and pulled someone out, how about the time they pulled someone from a car fire, how about the time they put a tourniquet on a ladies leg that had been shot by her boyfriend, saving her leg and life, how about the time they have pulled children out of locked cars during 100 degree days, how about the numerous times they evacuate someone from their homes because of a barricaded/suicidal subject with a gun. Think about it, there are going to be times when someone gets bit by a dog or thrown to the ground that shouldn’t have. Police work isn’t an exact science, they deal with the information they have and make decisions to save lives and get the bad guy off the street. The police care about you, that means all of you, even you that write crap here will be treated the same when the day comes and you need their help, they will be there and they will do their duty to help you. Get off their backs and try showing some support for the guys and ladies that do the job that none of you want to do.
Dec 13, 2011, 7:36 am
Get off their backs and try showing some support for the guys and ladies that do the job that none of you want to do.
Funny you say that. When ever there’s a job opening in those departments they get 1000s of people applying. No one wants to do it?
Dec 13, 2011, 9:07 am
SUMF, Robert. There is so much room for improvement… internet is full of vids showing obvious thuggery. pushback in this way is needed to prevent a stazi from developing.
Dec 13, 2011, 11:54 am
Robert, 1000’s, in Boise, get real!!!! When there is testing for positions there is less then 100 usually that show up to take tests and those tests are for departments valley wide, ie Boise, Meridian, Ada County, Namapa etc!!
Zippo, those videos aren’t from here are they? Sure there is problems everywhere, and I am not saying there are not some here, but, they have never have risen to the level as seen on internet. And, those that are shown are the minority!
Dec 13, 2011, 12:42 pm
SUMF
We all know that 1 oh “poop” wipes out 10 atta boys… besides there are more oh “poops” than atta boys. Your right they do deal with the info in front of them at the moment… the problem is they go to work with a “I’m going home tonight… you might not” attitude. I would disagree that police in general care about the common citizen, they do however, care about covering up anything that a fellow officer might have done. Your right, we will all be treated the same way… like our intent is to do them harm. Cops are very proud of their “right” to use coercion as way to control people thugs and gang bangers use the same tactics. What separates the cops from the thugs? A badge, a company car, and a salary paid by the citizens, not much else.
Dec 13, 2011, 1:52 pm
Wow Rick, talk about a hater!! But I bet you love firemen huh?? You must have been a bad boy before and didn’t like getting treated as an adult and held to the law huh!!
Dec 13, 2011, 10:42 pm
Hey Editor, did you do any research into this incident before posting this article?
EDITOR NOTE– “officer Lewis” we did the research and admittedly left out some of the other dog bites that cost the citizens money. The “junk yard dog” capture was one. Thanks for reminding us of misdeeds we failed to mention involving dogs and tigers.
Dec 15, 2011, 11:57 pm
You’re welcome, but more misdeeds wasn’t my point. But your response shows your personal bias.
The reason I asked if you did any research is based on the word “possible” in the article when describing the hostage. Your rant from then on highlighted two incidents, spanning about 10 – 11 years, of BPD K9s biting citizens when they shouldn’t have. You’ve since included a third. Good job! Clearly the point of your article is to ridicule and show the BPD K9s in a negative light and highlight their incompetence; as you and many of your readers have since done.
By definition, “possible” could also indicate that the person bit was a bad gal. For instance, she could have been a co-conspirator; or a fugitive running from police due to warrants; or a person harboring the suspect; or any other number of reasons beyond a purely poor innocent bystander minding her own business. That’s the research I was asking if you did. As a journalist I would think that you would find out what the circumstances surrounding the incident were before going on one of your typical anti-police knee-jerk rants. But it doesn’t surprise me you didn’t.
So, what if the woman was a fugitive or a co-conspirator? This goes for all you commenters too that simply knee-jerked into your anti-police comments. I know the article doesn’t indicate one way or another who she was, but that’s where a journalist would come in to play and check facts before writing.
Based on the lack of journalistic standards this article demonstrates, it doesn’t surprise me why the BPD PIO has cut you off from news updates. I also noticed that even the city won’t talk to you, “except as required by law.” No wonder.
I think your blog’s subtitle should read “A different slant on a rant” since it certainly isn’t news.
One last thing for clarification: I just want to point out that I have never identified myself as a police officer. However, if The Editor would like to address me as such, I would much rather be known as a Boise City Police Officer than an incompetent journalist.
EDITOR NOTE–You suggest that co-conspirators and “bad girls” may be subject to dog bites. Did coppers have information the woman fell into one of those areas and therefor needed to be bitten? If you want me to send more info to YOUR department e-mail let me know. Ask SUMF and he will confirm I have it. You have every right to post here, but your tone does little to improve department relations with either the public or the GUARDIAN. The GUARDIAN supports good police work and good policemen.
Dec 16, 2011, 12:05 pm
I formed my criticism of your coverage of this incident around information garnered from the Idaho Statesman article about this incident and my understanding of the English language. I’m not a journalist, thus I didn’t call the BPD PIO. That’s your job.
The woman who was bit may very well have been innocent. I never denied she wasn’t. However, the word “possible” indicates that she may not have been. In fact, you put the word hostage in quotation marks in your own headline. This further indicates she may not have been a hostage. But neither you, nor some of your commenters picked up on this and instead went on a knee-jerk rant about how incompetent the BPD K9 unit has been over the last decade. Your question to me further indicates that you still, today, don’t know the answer. This is my whole point.
You……don’t……know.
Moreover, you didn’t ask anyone for clarification. Which, as a journalist, you should have done before forming your opinion of the incident.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/07/journalistic_bias_or_incompete.html
Read this too, and see the difference between a fact, belief, opinion and prejudice. Combine that with the above article on journalistic bias and see which category your story here falls into.
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/co300man/pop12d.cfm
EDITOR NOTE–Dispatch was the source for providing the info there was a women in the residence “possibly being held against her will.” That was the reason for the massive response, including the dog. This is beating a dead horse at this point. The “funny ironic” part of the story was a hostage was bitten, not the bad guy. Let’s stop here.
Dec 16, 2011, 12:07 pm
I would like to start this out by saying that parts of my previous posts (which thankfully have been removed) were COMPLETELY out of line and I would like to sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by them
Steve
A question.. this is NOT intended as a slam or disrespect… Why is it that police officers always go to the what if… she (in this case) was a “bad gal” instead of giving people the benefit of the doubt…We can what if a situation into anything we want. When a citizen lumps officers into a category because of things other officers have done, officers are up in arms and refer to those citizens as haters. I understand cop’s have a very difficult job (for which you are paid very well) (I did it as a reserve without pay) but the “us against them attitude” displayed by some of your fellow officers is “in part” responsible the difficulties you face in dealing with the public in general. That being said we all know that it always takes the (bigger) party in an argument to make the first conciliatory move toward reconciling the situation.
Dec 16, 2011, 12:15 pm
SUMF…. that handle kills me..lol
as a matter of fact my best friend is a fireman in Boise.. he likes to say the one thing cops and firemen have in common is they both wanted to be firemen as kids… it’s a joke…lighten up.. not everyone is out to get you guys but some take offence like you guys do to being lumped into catagories they dont belong in.
Dec 16, 2011, 12:55 pm
You know why there are cops Rick, Cuz firefighters need heroes too! Thats a joke too, so enjoy it!
Dec 16, 2011, 4:32 pm
your funny..thats good…. wrong but good…
I would be very interested to hear your response to the question I posed to Officer Lewis a couple hours ago.
Dec 23, 2011, 6:48 pm
can I change my name to STFUMF? anyway the fireman friend of mine confirmed that the public does think higher of cops than firemen…He says when they wave at firemen they use their whole hand and when they wave at cops they only use 1 finger… so you guys must be #1… I hope you take this in fun… thats the way it’s intended… harmless banter… I have alot of respect for what cops do, just sometimes don’t agree with the methods used. Do the ends justify the means? sometimes yes… sometimes no.. but thats life not everything makes sence to everybody
Apr 20, 2012, 6:38 pm
Good God. i can’t believe what I just read. Where do you people come from? 1968 Frisco? Lewis never identified himself as ANYTHING other than a citizen of this country and this “editor” outed him? Who is the confrontational Nazi here? I guess opinions and 1st amendment rights only apply if you have certain political views. As corny as it sounds, the harshest thing I can say is you should be ashamed of yourself.