Florida football player arrested for barking at K9

[paperchunker]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/colleg ... &eref=sihp

U of Fl player arrested for "barking" at police dog.

[gringo pistolero]

K9 Cartman?

[n5wd]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/colleg ... &eref=sihp

U of Fl player arrested for "barking" at police dog.

This country is definitely going to the dogs! No wonder a Gator can't get respect!

[C-dub]

That is ridiculous. I suppose if he'd asked the human officer a question he would have also been arrested for distracting his investigation in side his car. I thought he was going to have been arrested for taunting an officer.

[jayinsat]

That is ridiculous. I suppose if he'd asked the human officer a question he would have also been arrested for distracting his investigation in side his car. I thought he was going to have been arrested for taunting an officer.

[cb1000rider]

Generally it's bad PD policy to arrest people that can afford really good attorneys on marginal charges.

[gigag04]

I'd like to know the real story. I have a hard time buying it went down as described.

[texanjoker]

That is ridiculous. I suppose if he'd asked the human officer a question he would have also been arrested for distracting his investigation in side his car. I thought he was going to have been arrested for taunting an officer.

That article is limited with info. I know from working k9's that idiots do come up and do all sorts of stuff to provoke the dog, to include making barking sounds, taking swats at the dog, ect. While they think it is funny, it is not and in most jurisdictions there are charges for harassing a police k9. The dog will react to that provocation by attacking or trying to break out of the car and taking a nice chunk of skin from said person. depending on the k9 unit set up, this could be hazardous for anybody in the area if the dog became loose.

[stash]

I don't know what it is with people and police animals. This past week-end a guy in Austin burned the neck of a police horse with a cigarette. Thank goodness they arrested the guy. It is a felony in Texas to do that.

[Abraham]

Why is taunting a K-9 dog O.K. with some?

It's not O.K.

I hope that when such things happen the tormentor is promptly arrested, jailed and fined.

[Tic Tac]

Why do some people hate freedom of speech so much?

[RottenApple]

Why is taunting a K-9 dog O.K. with some?

It's not O.K.

I hope that when such things happen the tormentor is promptly arrested, jailed and fined.

Why do you assume it was taunting? According to the article (which may or may not be factual; we all know how the media can be), the dog barked at the man who then said "woof woof" back. If he's telling the truth, I hardly see that as taunting.

[VMI77]

This quote from the gets to the heart of the matter:

According to the arresting officer, Morrison's actions diverted the canine's "attention from my investigation and towards him."

The dog was inside the car with the window open. The charge is "interfering with a police canine." If this charge is legitimate for the action described, then if a police officer was in a car with an open window, it would also be legitimate to arrest someone who approached the vehicle and asked the officer a question, for "interfering with a police officer."

If there is nothing more to the story than what's in the article then it was compliance conditioning --showing us mundanes who's boss. We all know the press lies, so it's also possible that the charge is entirely justified. However, to me it seems like the real issue is that citizen interactions with law enforcement have reached the point where people on this board, who believe in the rule-of-law and generally respect law enforcement, find the account credible. When law abiding citizens start giving credence to the media and the accused in confrontations like this, law enforcement is headed into some dark territory.

[EEllis]

Why do some people hate freedom of speech so much?

What speech is barking at a dog? Is there some political point the guy was trying to make? Social commentary, or was he just being stupid and paid for it.

[EEllis]

This quote from the gets to the heart of the matter:

According to the arresting officer, Morrison's actions diverted the canine's "attention from my investigation and towards him."

The dog was inside the car with the window open. The charge is "interfering with a police canine." If this charge is legitimate for the action described, then if a police officer was in a car with an open window, it would also be legitimate to arrest someone who approached the vehicle and asked the officer a question, for "interfering with a police officer."

If there is nothing more to the story than what's in the article then it was compliance conditioning --showing us mundanes who's boss. We all know the press lies, so it's also possible that the charge is entirely justified. However, to me it seems like the real issue is that citizen interactions with law enforcement have reached the point where people on this board, who believe in the rule-of-law and generally respect law enforcement, find the account credible. When law abiding citizens start giving credence to the media and the accused in confrontations like this, law enforcement is headed into some dark territory.

Lets assume the officer was out of the car dealing with someone. If the kid barked at the K-9 which led the dog to barking back then suddenly the officer has to wonder what is going on with his dog distracting him from his duties. He also needs to make sure his dog is safe, not being abused, and not able to attack some genius who thinks barking at a police canine is a good idea. Sounds like it would meet the level required for interference. By the way it's a dog not a person. He wasn't trying to talk to the dog he was teasing it at best. Lets make this equal. If two cops were out on a traffic stop and some guy walked up and barked in the face of one of them I would expect him to go to jail then also. Who wouldn't?