Guest Anonymous Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 An article from January 11 in the KnoxNews regarding the horrible slaughter of the Smoak family dog quotes a Lt Andrews as saying they didn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixjollydogs Posted January 17, 2003 Share Posted January 17, 2003 :evilbat: Well, maybe THAT is why Hall shot the dog....he thought he was carrying a gun! The cops have been caught with their proverbial pants down....and want to ignore it is all on video tape! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixjollydogs Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 :x :evil: The "good ole boys" in Hicksville are counting on public interest drifting elsewhere and then they can go about their dirty business as normal. I have written a letter to People magazine urging them to do an artile on this tragedy. Here is the e-mail address: [email][email protected][/email] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixjollydogs Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 I just got a very nice thank you letter from the Smoak family, thw owners of the murdered dog. They thanked us for our concern and urged we continue to watch their web site. I also read a letter from a former police officer who lives in Cookesville. He states that one on the troopers went over to Jame Smoak and told him "you aren't going to give me any trouble are you boy" ( sounds like Bubba to me). When he took off the handcuffs and Smoak ran over to his dead dog, the officer followed him and said "I told you not to give me any trouble...if you do...you will be on your back in my patrol car". Remember...at this point even these Keystone Kops had figured out that the Smoaks were guilt of NOTHING. :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixjollydogs Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 There is a wonderful picture of Patton on the new web site the family has set up. He looked like a boxer to me. [url]http://www.pattonsmoak.com[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 20, 2003 Share Posted January 20, 2003 oh yeah, BOXER , looks almost identicle to the one my friend just got. Same markings and everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixjollydogs Posted January 22, 2003 Share Posted January 22, 2003 :evil: I am begging all to go to the website that the Smoak family has set up. There are two new stories here concerning a senate hearing about what happened. The senators expressed their outrage referring to what the police did. At least one felt the police are lying. Concern was also expressed about Hall's history of shooting others dogs. They also talked about the fact the tape caught him laughing afterwards! These stories are a MUST read!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bk_blue Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 [url]http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/03/01/27816872.shtml?Element_ID=27816872[/url] "Thank God you [the Smoakes] weren't black. They [the cops] would have shot you." I smell bacon... :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: As if shooting the dog wasn't enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixjollydogs Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 Here is part of a story about an audio analysis conducted bt an expert in the field. The Cookeville police officer who shot to death a family's dog Jan. 1 during a traffic stop did not yell ''get back!'' before firing, as he and another officer wrote in police reports, an audio expert said. Instead, Officer Eric Hall yelled as he fired the shotgun, killing Patton, the bulldog mix belonging to the James Smoak family of Saluda, N.C. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixjollydogs Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 and here is more Computer enhancement of the audio portion of the videotape does not match with some accounts given by police officers of what happened. An audio analysis also found that: • No barking was captured on the audio track. Two officers said in their reports that the dog barked before advancing on Hall. • Pamela Smoak clearly warned police that Patton was not dangerous, saying, ''That bulldog is not mean. He won't hurt you,'' about 20 seconds before Hall fired. The audio portion of the video was analyzed by Doug Mitchell, an associate professor in the department of recording industry at Middle Tennessee State University, at The Tennessean's request. He has more than 20 years of audio engineering experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtnek Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 OH MY GOD!!!! I would have been SO pissed I might have shot the cop myself!! And I'm sorry, but I CANT see the cops side of the story. He was TOLD by the family that there was a dog in the car, and ASKED by the father if the trigger-happy idiot would close the door!!!!!! All he had to do was run the license plate and the registration, and it would PROVE he was the owner of the car!!! Even if he didnt have his wallet, his wife had hers, and they could run her license against the plates. This guy needs to be fired, sued, and never allowed to carry a gun again!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 There was no time for that, between the time of the stop and the time they got them down the dog was out of the car. The only victim here is the dog. As I said previously if they had the dog crated, like you are supposed to he couldnt haave jumped out. The fact that the cops are lying about it just shows them as stupid, especially since you know its on tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
courtnek Posted January 23, 2003 Share Posted January 23, 2003 OK, I'm calm now..... My dad was a judge, and we had many cops as friends when I was a kid. I called one and asked him about this case. He is now retired and I promised I wouldnt give his name. He said that Hall's reaction and actions were completely inappropriate to the situation. Not knowing for sure if Smoak's was really a criminal or not, he had the right to stop the car to investigate. Upon discovering that there was a family and pets inside, what he should have done was told the driver to turn off the engine and step out of the car. At that point the other officers should have deployed to both sides of the car, to keep an eye on the rest of the occupants (and the dogs). AND, knowing that there were dogs in the car that could potentially be dangerous, THEY SHOULD HAVE CLOSED THE DOORS. He said there was absolutely no reason to drag those poor people out of the car, handcuff them kneeling, and hold shotguns to their heads. Remember, they had no sure knowledge that a crime had even been commited at this point. He has been following this story and believes, as most of us do, that this cop should be fired, and possibly jailed. Unfortunately, not for what he did to Patton, but because of his horrendous treatment to the Smoaks. It's a very simple law: it's called "Harrassment" and falls under the statute of "Undue Force". ANyway, after making Mr. Smoaks get out of the car, they could then run the license and the plates (which they usually do while they're following you before they pull you over) and work out the ID details. Like I said earlier, they could have matched the wife's drivers license with the registration on the car. If they had an insurance card, they could have matched the VIN. NONE of what Hall did was correct police behaviour. Of course, the police department will back him up and say the dog was attacking, but that is obviously not true according to the video. Which I watched. I wanted to throw up..... He was also interested in the fact that Hall has shot a few other dogs before. He said cops have a natural fear of dogs, because of their line of work, but he also stated that the safest thing to have done would have been to shut the doors. He pointed out that there was no reason not to, being as the whole family was detained and there was no "line of fire" to be concerned about. In his own personal opinion, this guy is bad news. He has an attitude, and he's carrying a gun. He speculated that the cop ran the plates before pulling them over, and may have been such an ass because he knew the car was from out of state. "Easier pickin's" He was actually quite upset about this story, because this sort of crap is what gives all cops a bad name. One bad apple, you know the drill.... Now for the intersting part - I live in the suburbs of Chicago, and this man is a retired Chicago cop. The crime here is much more intense than that in Cookeville, TN. He said under NO circumstances would he have refused to shut those doors when he saw dogs. He would have shut them instinctively, for self preservation. I have emailed the Governor, and the Mayor, and called Cookeville and gave them a rather unfriendly opinion of their police force. The lady sounded weary, like this was the thousandth call she's taken.... I have also signed the petition I hope for justice for the Smoaks and Patton. If we keep the drive going, possibly outraged public opinion will have an affect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I truely hope the Smoak family gets a large settlement in their law suit against the city of Cookeville and the state of Tennessee. At first I thought they should all be suspended without pay for at least 6 months but now, they are all turning in false reports and even their superiors are covering up for them. The Cookeville Police Department and the Tennessee Highway Patrol have no, ETHICS, MORALS OR INTEGRITY. They think that covering up for each other will clear them. But the video shows otherwise and clearly that Patton was wagging his tail and looking curiously at the flash light on the shot gun. He was never ever a threat to anyone AND, there was no line of fire coming from the Smoak family regarding the open door. The officer nearest that open door should have closed the door. Also, the officers were not in a stressfull situation as some people are saying is why the officer shot Patton. The Smoak family on their knees, on the road-side with hands cuffed behind their backs and shot guns pointed at their heads is a stressfull situation. The Smoak family were never ask to present their car registration let alone some type of personnal identification. Like coutnek said, these officers took advantage of this situation when they saw out of state plates on this car. Little did these officers know the magnitude of back-lash they would create world wide against them. Now they are running and crying with their tails between their legs. What a bunch of dirty lying p&&ks. When Eric Hall was interviewed this past week on the Today Show, he insist that Patton came at him growling and circled him aggresively. While giving his reason for shooting Patton, the full video is shown and Pattons tail is wagging the entire time as he goes down from the bullet to his head. The women interviewing Hall said that the dog did not look to be a threat with his tail wagging. Hall kept saying that Patton came at him with an aggresiveness and growling. Well people, along with the audio, the video clearly shows that HALL SHOULD BE FIRED, ALONG WITH THE OFFICER WHO LAUGHED AT THE SMOAK FAMILY CRYING WHILE THEY MOURNED THEIR BEAUTIFUL INNOCENT DOG SHOT BY HALL AND THE OFFICER STANDING NEAR THE OPEN DOOR AND WOULD NOT CLOSE IT. Hall continues to say that people are judging him wrongly and that he is a good person. Well, I am thinking bad training of all the officers involved that night, major arrogance and abusing their authority cause them to make very bad decisions. They certainly JUDGED the Smoak family very wrongly and Hall, without a doubt, was dead wrong in judging Patton. These men do not deserve a break. If suspended, it should be without pay and absolutely demoted to the bottom of the ranks, with bottom rank pay scales and no promotions for the next six years. Or else they should be fired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted January 25, 2003 Share Posted January 25, 2003 I know you're probably all sick of hearing from me, but I have one more comment. The sad truth is that they probably wont be fired. Police are very loyal to each other, which is usually a good thing, except in cases like this. I would be ok with a punishment of suspension without pay, and then, after that, desk jobs for all of them. and NO GUNS. None of these officers should ever be allowed to carry a gun again. "He shot a dog"....is going to be their excuse. What if he had missed? What if that bullet had gone through a car window and hit a child? Someone who fires a gun that recklessly on an open highway should NOT be allowed to have one...... I am not a police officer, and I own a gun. I target shoot for sport. Under no circumstances would I have fired a weapon in that situation. There was no need for it, and it endangered other drivers on the road. The killing of that beautiful animal was just the arrogance of a cop with a head too big for his shoulders. And an ego to match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixjollydogs Posted January 27, 2003 Share Posted January 27, 2003 :evilbat: :baddevil: I you go [url]www.putnampit.com[/url], you will find that the department is riddled with issues...to wit: 1. one off-duty officer shoot another 2. one picked up a female officer and threw her across the room by her belt and referred to her by a term usually reserved for female dogs. 3. the chief has used police computers for porno and has a number of other issues. What was the attitude of Good Morning America? I hope they did not tolerate his self-serving lies. By the way, the city has cut off their e-mails sites...I guess they are tired of hearing the truth about what a bunch of idiots are involved in this situation. If they has a shred of integrity, they would fire Hall and admit they were wrong...instead of continuing to back his lies in the face of a tape that show otherwise. Some one should also be asking WHY the Cookeville officers turned off their video cameras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imported_Debbie Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 :cry: This situation makes me sick, I have read every post on this news item. The police in that area obviously have nothing BETTER to do , like cleaning up drugs or other serious problems. NO they have to pick on unsuspecting motorists with full family's in their cars. It should have been enough to just make a stop and run their licenses. But NOOOOO we have to get all " America's Most Wanted" on them and in the process shoot a family pet in front of the whole family including kids. This world is going to hell in a handbasket !!! As my Grandma would say !! I hope that family gets a HUGE settlement, it won't bring Patton back but it sure will be sending a HUGE message to that police department. :evil: Nothing shocks me anymore, Debbie :cry: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixjollydogs Posted March 14, 2003 Share Posted March 14, 2003 :( I second your thoughts! As horrible as the shooting of the dog was..the most frightening aspect is that police feel they can act like the Gestapo! They threatened the husband even after they knew the stop was bogus!!! :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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