The Hawthorne police officer
responsible for killing a dog as it's owner, Leon Rosby, is placed under arrest
has been in trouble with the law in the past. In the case of Goodrow vs
Hawthorne, Officer Jeffrey Salmon was one of seven Hawthorne Police Department
officers charged with alleged deprivation of civil rights resulting from
excessive force, denial of medical treatment and malicious prosecution,
stemming from an incident that occurred at a party on July 21, 2006.
Hawthorne Police Department
settled the lawsuit for one million dollars in case CV-07-5253 (VBV) on the eve
of the trail on US District Court, Central District of California, the
Honorable Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank presiding.
The Hawthorn officers
responding were accused of beating plaintiff Anthony Goodrow when they
responded to a noise complaint at a party. Andrew and his wife Karla Hernriquez
Goodrow were both charged and falsely prosecuted to cover up police brutality.
The charges against Anthony were dismissed in criminal court.
Karla, who screamed at the
officers to quit beating her husband was arrested for public intoxication.
Karla was only trying to protect her husband, who was forced face-down on the
concrete and kicked. The abuse Anthony suffered by the police officers resulted
in a broken jaw. Karla was acquitted when the case went to trial.
Evidence the plaintiffs were
prepared to present at trial included a photograph of an officer appearing to
kick the handcuffed plaintiff in the face and a surveillance video allegedly
depicting officers high-fiving each other as the injured plaintiff suffered
from a broken jaw.
In the federal case of Goodrow
vs Hawthorne, the lawsuit charged officers with depriving the Goodrows of their
civil rights, excessive force, malicious prosecution and denial of medical
treatment.
Now we have another case
involving Hawthorne Police officer Jeffrey Salmon. Although no abuse can be
seen on the YouTube videos circulating that captured the cowardly actions of
the police officers responsible for the death of a family dog.
What crime had Leon and his dog
committed that created the need for the Hawthorne Police to kill the dog, who
had jumped out of the car where Leon had placed the dog for safety while he
spoke with officers?
Leon didn't resist arrest. He
didn't fight the officers in any way. It appears the dog owner was speaking to
his dog as the officers were firing bullets into the dog.
This dog had to have been very
well trained by Leon. Look at the leash used in the video. This is the type of
leash used on a dog weighing under 50 pounds. Only a well mannered dog could be
trusted on this type of lead, as an eager dog could easily break it.
Leon most likely trained this
dog from a young age, as you can tell by the dog on its final walk before being
brutally murdered by officer Salmon.
The Hawthorne PD has issued a
request for anyone who videotaped the shooting to turn over this evidence to be
considered in dealing with these officers. Be very careful if you who recorded
this decide to hand it over to the police. It's a felony in California to
videotape police, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
There have been cases, however,
where the police were videotaped breaking the law where the judge has allowed
the evidence against police to stand without the person who recorded it being
considered a lawbreaker. Let's hope that will be the case in this situation.
One question comes to mind
about this case. Why was officer Salmon still with the Hawthorne Police
Department, given his tendency for brutality and lying in an effort to cover up
a charge of police brutality?
What do the readers here think
will happen? It's most like officer Salmon will be cleared of all charges. This
doesn't make him innocent. We all saw in the video what type of officer this
police department has.
Hopefully the public can demand
justice, especially since this dog shot by police incident had many horrified
witnesses.