“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

Hawthorne police officer who killed dog has a past charge of police brutality


 

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.