The "chief" position usually goes to the stupidest

Montana Police Dog Attacks Man Working Late At Restaurant . . . Police Chief Declines To Apologize And Says Dog “Did What He Was Supposed To Do”

Published 1, September 4, 2013 Bizarre , Criminal law , Society 37 Comments

Some jurisdictions have curtailed or even eliminated K-9 teams due to liability — reducing the majority of dogs to drug and bomb sniffing units. That is clearly not the case in Livingston, Montana. Mark Demaline, who cooks at the Park Place Tavern, was attacked late at night in his workplace when police found a door unlocked after hours and sent in a police dog named Bobi. What is most astonishing is not just the lack of an apology by police but the insistence of Chief of Police Darren Raney (left) that the dog “did what he was supposed to do.”

After the restaurant closed, Demaline did what he often did after work. He went next door to the Livingston Bar and Grille for a drink and then returned around 2 am to retrieve his laptop to go home. He made himself a quick salad for a late night snack and was heading to the door when he ran into Bobi. At first, he said “Hey, puppy” and tried to greet it. He says the dog attacked and lunged for his thigh. When he tried to grab Bobi’s collar, the dog went for his wrists. The dog bit him deeply in the thigh and brought him to the floor as the officer yelled for him to put his hands above his head — a difficult proposition with a dog clamped on your thigh.
The police forced Demaline to his feet painfully and pushed him out the restaurant in handcuffs. Then left him in handcuffs as they called the owner to confirm that he worked there. He was then taken to the hospital for the deep bites and a laceration on his back from when he fell.
Raney refused to apologized and stated “It’s acceptable for the dog to confront anybody in the business at that hour, . . . When the dog finds somebody in the building, he’s going to secure him, and that’s what happened . . .He did what he was supposed to do.” The Chief could not be stating a better case for a lawsuit. It is hardly unheard of for a person to be working late at a bar or restaurant, particularly with a bar just closing next door. While the police say that they called into the business, sending in a dog off leash is an extreme measure. While these dogs are trained to immobilize a person, there have been many lawsuits showing that many trained animals suddenly attack.
In the absence of an apology, perhaps Demaline will find some solace in a damages award. It is clear that this is a police department badly in need of some legal corrective action in my view. It is hard to believe that this tiny town has such a crime wave as to need this type of extreme enforcement measure. However, the town may now have to face the costs of excessive police action if Demaline sues, as he should, for this severe injury. To paraphrase the Chief, it is necessary for Demaline’s lawyer “to do what he is supposed to do.”
In another recent case out of Utah, a woman says that officers allowed a dog to attack her as she was asleep in front of a high school. She had previously had an encounter with a taxi driver who had refused to take her bike. She was awakened by the dog biting her leg. To make matters worse, the dispatcher praised the K-9 team saying “‘you two rock,’ ‘Wish we had instant photos in here!,’ ‘Severe trauma to the leg?,’ ‘Awesome extra treat for Vortex and you deserve a Slurpee!’”
Source: Livingston Enterprise
Kudos: Michael Blott