By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
We previously discussed a disturbing report of a family pet shot by Rains County Sheriff’s Deputy Jerrod Dooley, HERE. The incident stemmed when homeowner Cole Middleton arrived home about 11:00 AM and discovered his residence had been burglarized and several items, including all his firearms were stolen. Several hours later, while Cole was working in a field harvesting grass, Deputy Dooley arrived. The deputy then claimed he was threatened by Cole Middleton’s cow dog Candy when she darted out from a pickup truck and was shot. Despite being begged by Cole to put down Candy to end her suffering, Deputy Dooley instead calls for help and pulls back in his patrol car to wait for “backup”. Cole, having no firearms to perform a coup de grâce, suffered the terror of having to drown Candy in a bucket to end it for her.
Newly released dash cam video capturing much of the incident shows Deputy Dooley arriving at the residence and pulling behind a pickup truck. Candy is lying down in the bed of the truck and when the patrol vehicle pulls up she stands and begins barking with tail wagging. Candy continues to bark and then jumps out of the bed and is subsequently shot by Deputy Dooley. Shortly thereafter, Cole walks up and Deputy Dooley informs him that he had to shoot his dog. Cole is understandably distressed yet the deputy calls for backup saying he needs “help” and is shown backing out of the driveway.
Sheriff David Traylor fired Deputy Dooley and later stated to a KLTV reporter that it was for Dooley’s safety because of numerous threats made against him and the department. He added that it is the safest move for the department and the deputy.
In the three decades Sheriff Traylor stated he was in law enforcement, he had never seen a department receive so many threats from a single incident. Ultimately he said thas was the reason Dooley was fired. The hundreds of calls from outraged citizens was beginning to detract from other responsibilities the department is charged with and Sheriff Traylor believed having Dooley on the force put he and other deputies at risk. Dooley had been employed for six months. The sheriff confirmed that a criminal investigation into the shooting is underway and is headed by the Texas Rangers.
Sheriff Traylor stated his department is implementing policy changes he hopes will reduce the likelihood of a similar tragedy reoccurring; such as waiting in the car if possible or honking a horn to have the dog’s owner to come by and address the dog. But the sheriff was pragmatic about these policies by adding “you can put the policies out there and follow them as best you can…but it will be a matter of common sense.”
Candy’s owner Cole Middleton said he is glad that Deputy Dooley was fired and still hoped there would be a criminal prosecution for the shooting.
One reason for Deputy Dooley’s sudden departure from the Rains County Sheriff’s Office might be that as a six month employee, he is likely on probation and in this respect is subject to termination at the pleasure of the sheriff before a civil service tenure is afforded him. During the probationary time it gives the department an opportunity to vet the employee for suitability for a career with the department.
In the opinion of your author, the decision of Sheriff Traylor was sound. Deputy Dooley in this incident displayed a fundamental lack of proper discretion in dealing with a use of force issue and when faced with a despondent person (Cole Middleton) over having shot his dog, Dooley chose to call for “Help” and flee the scene. Calling for Help in the law enforcement world is a far more urgent distress call than calling for “backup”. Such a call, paired up with him backing out of the scene, will cause responding officers to believe a dire threat is being faced by the calling officer. This causes responding officers to respond faster and puts them at a higher risk and takes them away from even other in-progress calls. This type of incident was not something that Deputy Dooley should have backed out of. It is very indicative of future performances where he is going to be likely one who will call for help / backup at the drop of a hat and in a rural county environment where he will seldom be partnered up with another deputy, he likely is not suited to be a deputy sheriff.
He also showed cowardice in not wanting to face the situation of putting down Candy when decency and the law demanded the coup de grâce mercy be given. And how quick will he have been to shoot another animal or person when faced with a difficult situation where the use of a firearm is clearly not warranted otherwise. Jarrod Dooley’s actions are indicative that it is not worth the risk in him being afforded the duties of a deputy sheriff.
It seems clear that in some measure, the Middleton family will see some justice in the matter.
By Darren Smith
Sources:
KLTV
Rains County Sheriff’s Office (Photo Credit)
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
Paul,
If this (former) deputy had asked for a re-evaluation in order to work for another department, I would turn him down. I won’t take money from any department when I know there is something in the record like this. If an officer has been fired for cowardice, bullying, or any other similar offense, there is no point. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. At this point, given the video and witness statements, I do believe I know enough that I don’t want to do the evaluation. A psychological test can be beaten, but the public record can’t.
If an officer fired for cowardice, excessive aggression, or horrendously poor judgement wants an examination, it’s a free country and there are other qualified psychiatrists or psychologists who might do a POST examination.
Charlton – I am very surprised at your reasoning. The supposed reasoning behind your inmate program with substance abusers was the idea that you could “cure” them for loss of a better word.
In this case, you admit you have a certain prejudice against certain acts by certain officers. Here you are saying that they cannot be “cured” yet I thought that was the whole reason for your profession.
Given as fact that government employees cause problems, the obvious remedy is to stop government employment by making it a summary death penalty felony to be employed by any government?
Come to think of it, some vigilantes seem to have tried that, and it seems to never have worked?
Or, is the human genome itself some sort of tragic genetic defect?
Does Guillotine’s Surgical Procedure promptly cure all forms of mental illness?
How can a pet dog lawfully obtain a concealed carry permit and a handgun, and learn to use the handgun effectively in self-defense?
Oh, yes! That movie! What movie? Planet of the Apes
Who is not employed by the government, whether for compensation or as a volunteer (willing, unwilling, or otherwise), when the government is of, by, and for, the people?
Is the law an artifact of loose associations?
Someone’s gotta keep the oversized police state honest. Funny how it was gun totin’ lefties in the 60’s and 70’s. You have to understand history to understand what’s going on today. But, in some minds, those gun totin’ southpaws were freedom fighters, right?
Paul,
I have read your link, but John Fund misses an essential point why there are so many swat teams. Part of it is the militarization of police agencies through the patriot act and earlier, and the rise in militant right wing domestic terrorist groups that challenge federal agents with large groups of highly armed men.
rafflaw – you don’t think the Black Panthers or New Black Panthers are armed to the teeth? There are more guns in the barrio then on most military bases. And how about the Bloods and the Crips? And those large groups of heavily armed white men seem to be killing very few people.
“Re-evaluation” being the worst part of what was divulged.
Nice one Pete
You’re the Al Yankovick of RIL.
pete, Don’t quit your day job. But, I do love sick humor!
Interesting link bettykath!
rafflaw – read mine, read mine, read mine 🙂
Deputy Jerrod Dooleys song
I shot the dog and the
dog won
I shot the dog and the
dog won
he was waggin his tail at my
six gun
I shot the dog and the
dog won
bettykath, I read that the other day and hoped a GBer would pick up on it. maybe one will now. Those cops are doubling down and saying “Screw you” to everyone. Good link and great point about “human animals.” Puppies are “cuter” I guess.
Since the thread has come to mostly tit for tat inanity, I offer a link to a story about another Albuquerque cop shooting of a human animal. A young woman suspected of stealing a truck was shot by a cop. Apparently she hated guns but a heavy Saturday-nite special was found next to her body. Cop wasn’t interviewed for 48 hours.
http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3411828.shtml#.U1vp1VfyScc
bettykath – this is along the same idea
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/376053/united-states-swat-john-fund
Oh, it gets better. The shooter hires an attorney claiming his was not properly trained for the job ( after 8 years of law enforcement) He cries on camera saying he thinks about the dog every minute.
raff
well there goes my Firefox theory.
Paul S
I wonder though….
When someone presents his credentials as support for his greater value as an authority and his information turns out to be fatally flawed – cannot one question his reliance on his credentials?
Dr. Stanley has never had that problem, BTW.
Charlton seems to pick the low hanging fruit to work with. In this case he prejudged the person he refused to work with. That is my comment. And actually I do not know what his credentials are, but we had an extended discussion over an inmate program that he supposedly ran where he also picked the low hanging fruit to work with. Of course, this helped with his success rate for the program. Looking at things in the best light for Charlton, I have never doubted his qualifications. This is the latest from the APA
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2613535/Mental-illness-does-NOT-lead-people-commit-crimes-researchers-say.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490
Chuck, I would trust my psyche with you. 😆
Thanks Darren for the technical assistance!
Paul,
I think Chuck knows what he is doing in his profession in light of his education and experience.
feynman, I do not use Firefox.
Somebody thinks they are a celebrity. Maybe infamous would be a better word. 😕
rafflaw – since people have mocked and/or libeled me for my experience in my profession I thought everyone was fair game. Charlton and I have had this discussion before about taking the easy cases.
Paul Schulte
Charlton – my problem …
====================
When you tell the truth … say no more.
Mr. Spinelli,
The courtesy of a reply is requested. I have a lot of patience.