The killing of a beloved pet by an LAPD officer in Canoga Park has gone viral, angering many who are demanding answers.
On Saturday night, LAPD officers responded to an apartment complex on Jordan Ave. after getting a report of a “screaming woman.” When they arrived, they made contact with Marie Marseille.
Marseille told Fox 11 she and her two-year-old Golden Bernedoodle, Jameson, were celebrating the Knicks’ big win when officers knocked on her door. She said Jameson went outside and went toward one of the officers.
LAPD officers, however, say the dog “charged” at one of them, which led to an officer shooting the dog.
Jim Bueermann with the Future of Policing Institute, who also served as chief of the Redlands Police Department, told KNX News’ Karen Adams there are no winners in this case.
“It's tragic, but a reality of policing is that you can be involved in an incident that is very calm and literally in a split second it goes from 0 to 60,” he said.
He also said body cam footage is going to play a key role in determining whether the officer was reasonably right to shoot the dog.
“It's not reasonable for police officers in many instances to fire their weapons,” he said. “They might hit somebody else, but there might be an instance where it would be reasonable for them to risk that because of something that's occurring. You have to take every single police use-of-force case. You have to view every one of those on its own merits.”
Bueermann said the department needs to spend more time educating officers on dog behaviors.
A GoFundMe for Jameson’s family has reached over $138,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
