Officer in dog shooting reassigned Mary Jo Denton
Herald-Citizen Staff
The Cookeville Police officer who killed a family's pet dog here on New Year's Day has been reassigned to administrative duties, though that is not a punishment, his superiors said today. And a Tennessee Highway Patrol car's video tape of the whole incident, which happened on Interstate 40 at S. Jefferson about 5 p.m. Jan. 1, shows that it was only three seconds after the dog hopped out of the car before Officer Eric Hall killed the dog with his shotgun. To an average viewer, the scene recorded on the video may not demonstrate the aggressiveness or the threat the officer said he experienced as the dog came toward him. That video, which is part of the internal investigations the incident has prompted in both police agencies, was shown to this reporter today and is being released to the public today at a press conference the THP is set to hold in Nashville. Officer Hall, who is already assigned to work the Cookeville Police Dept.'s domestic violence unit, has now been reassigned to administrative duties in that unit, rather than any street patrol or enforcement work, Chief Bob Terry said today. "We are aware there is a lot of criticism out there over this incident, and we want to take him off the road and let him perform other duties while we get this all resolved," Terry said. The incident originated out of the Tennessee Highway Patrol's decision to make a felony stop of a car which was traveling through Cookeville that day. The car, occupied by the James Smoak family of Saluda, North Carolina, had been spotted in Nashville by a passerby who became suspicious after seeing a wallet fly from the vehicle. That was James Smoak's wallet, and he did not know he had lost it after pumping gas and forgetting that he had laid his wallet on top of the car. At some point -- which is expected to be clarified by the THP's internal investigation -- someone within the THP decided that a robbery had occurred and that the vehicle from which the wallet had come must be occupied by the robber. Deciding after that to make a felony stop -- which is a police procedure commonly used in high risk situations -- the THP determined the stop would be made in Cookeville and asked the Cookeville Police Dept. to provide backup. Officers Eric Hall and Mead McWhorter went to provide that backup to State Troopers David Bush, David Roark, Lt. Jerry Andrews, and other THP officers involved in the case. The city officers were not told what the suspected felony was, only that it would be felony stop. The Smoaks, who had been to Nashville on vacation and were on their way home, were traveling along with their two pet dogs, Patton and Cassie, and had no idea why they were suddenly being stopped here. The video tape of the incident shows the troopers making the stop and using a public address system to order the occupants of the car out one at a time. It shows James and Pamela Smoak and their 17-year-old son, Brandon, obeying the officers, coming out with their hands up, walking slowly backwards, getting down when ordered, and being handcuffed by the troopers. It shows Officer Hall with his shotgun trained on the Smoak car, as he and Officer McWhorter were doing to protect the troopers from anyone else or any danger that might remain in the car. The tape shows one trooper standing on either side of the Smoak vehicle at the doors and shows that one car door is standing open. A trooper standing right beside that door looks in and comments that there is a dog inside. The trooper appears to be holding the car door open. The Smoaks have said they repeatedly asked the troopers to close the car doors to keep their dogs from getting out on the highway, but the troopers did not do that. The tape shows the dog Patton (a boxer/bulldog mix) hopping out onto the roadside. He trots around in a circle and comes back toward Officer Hall, who fires his gun at the animal, killing it instantly. It happens so fast from the time the dog hops out -- within three seconds according to the tape's counter -- that perceiving the threat to the officer may be impossible for the casual viewer. The video clearly records the handcuffed Smoak family reacting to the killing. Their shocked cries, the sound of their grief can be heard plainly on the tape, as the troopers continue to control the three. Officer Hall has said the dog was charging at him in a threatening manner and has said he had no other option but to shoot the dog in order to continue to perform his duty of protecting the troopers as backup for the felony stop. He said he thought the dog was a pit bull. It was only later that the THP discovered that the Smoaks were not robbers and that no robbery had occurred. The family was released then. In shock over what had happened to them and their dog, the Smoaks made arrangements to spend the rest of that night in Cookeville, and they lodged formal complaints against all officers involved. Since then, the story has spread to many other areas of the United States, causing a firestorm of criticism for both police agencies and evoking great sympathy for the family. Chief Terry said today, "We once again extend our deepest concerns to the Smoak family for their loss. We know this was a terrible experience for them, and we truly wish that we could undo the events that occurred on the night of Jan. 1." Terry stressed again that the Cookeville Police Dept.'s total role in the matter was "supportive and protective" for the THP. "As a result, our investigation focused on two things: how we served the THP in a backup role and the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate shooting of the family's dog." He said the internal investigation "strictly speaking from a procedural standpoint," indicates that the city officers "performed their duties according to training and policy." He said Officer Hall was forced to make a "split-second decision to use force." "His actions appear to be consistent with officer training when it comes to handling a perceived threat at a felony scene, which should always be considered a potentially dangerous situation," Terry said. But after considering the full internal investigation findings and viewing the THP video, he decided to seek an independent review of the incident from at least two other unrelated police agencies, he said. "Although Officer Hall may have been procedurally correct in his actions, this incident has caused great concern not only for the Smoaks, but for our community," Chief Terry said. "As a result, Officer Hall has been reassigned to an administrative position, where he will serve until an independent agency can provide verification of our internal findings or make suggestions on what different actions could have been taken." The internal investigation, which was conducted by Detective Sgt. Bill Boman, concluded that Officer Hall "was placed in a position that a reasonable person would have believed that he was in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death." "Because of the rapid escalation of the situation, Officer Hall had no other choice but to terminate the threat," Boman's report says. "Officer Hall yelled at the canine to get back while retreating. The canine continued closing the distance of inches before Officer Hall was forced to discharge his weapon." The video tape of the whole incident is expected to be made public and shown on Nashville television news shows today. "I want the community to know that this is all just as appalling to me and others in the department as it is to anybody else," Chief Terry said today. "And it really disturbs me that this video will be shown on television and children will see it. But I keep stressing that it wasn't our stop in the first place. I know that doesn't fix it, but stopping this family in the first place was not our doing. We were only assisting the other agency on a felony stop they had decided upon, and felony stops are complicated. "We intend to take all the elements of this and learn from it," he said. Published January 08, 2003 1:10 PM CST
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