Ken Rogers of Washougal, Washington was enjoying a visit with family in Kennewick and looking forward to some fishing when his slumber was rudely disturbed on the night of July 13, 2003.
Rogers, a 54-year-old regional sales manager for Georgia-Pacific, was sleeping under the stars when a large dog suddenly vaulted over a wooden fence and sank its teeth into his left arm. Shocked and disoriented in the darkness, and not wearing his eyeglasses, Rogers struggled desperately to free himself from the dog, to no avail.
A voice from the other side of the fence informed Rogers that the dog was the property of the Kennewick Police Department’s K-9 Unit. “Stop fighting the dog and I will release him,” yelled Officer Bradley Kohn. Rogers, understandably, wasn’t content to wait, and started punching the police dog — later identified as “Deke” — in the head.
Officer Kohn, along with Officer Ryan Bonnalie, tore down part of the fence. The two of them, along with Deputy Jeff Quackenbush, “entered the backyard and subdued Rogers,” as the excessively decorous language of a legal appeal filed by the officers describes the incident.
[…]
An even more candid description of the episode would be this: Ken was sleeping peacefully when he suffered a potentially lethal dog attack, and then was severely beaten by three armed men after they had vandalized his host’s property.
One would presume that they were seeking a burglar, a rapist, or some other practitioner of criminal violence. One would be mistaken: The police officers who beat Ken Rogers had been summoned as backup by Sgt. Richard Dopke after he had spotted someone riding a mini-moped without a helmet or turning on the lights.
And that’s when things turned bad. And weird.
[Editor: Deleted for inappropriate, irrelevant and trollish comment]
These police officers are giving the decent police officers a bad name. What the police needs is better screening of whom they allow to enter the force.
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#1
You’re an asshole.
Jeebus, but this kinda shit is depressing…
Jägermeister, the problem lies mostly in the older, entrenched police command, who make good and goddamn sure that only up-and-coming prospects who share their fascist “cops v. everyone else” mentality have any chance for promotion.
Plenty of young, idealist cops learn very quickly that if they want to advance – or sometimes, just stay on the force – that they’ll have to look the other way when the “good guys” (as they refer to themselves) step over the line. The stronger ones get out.
A secret conspiritorial brotherhood of cops who feel that they’re above the law has been quietly growing in America for some time – and the fucking corrupt regimes of Reagan and the Bushes have fed the growth of this anti-citizen cabal.
In case you hadn’t noticed, we’ in a heap o’ trouble, boy.
The fun begins with Programming.
These people are taught NOT to take ANY chances, and that to TAKE 1 chance, means they ARENT coming home.
They are NOT taught to THINK or to CARE. they are TAUGHT to give Tickets, and to REstrain you and HOLD you for a Judge to decide.
A Dog to chase a MoPed, is STUPID. Even if it only DOEs 10mph.
for some reason Society has decided to Police the Stupid. SO what I want to ride without a helmit, If I hurt myself ITS MY FAULT… And i DONT think Im going to run over a Kid in the middel of the night.
Cops don’t start out mean spirited. They will quickly become that way after dealing with the scum of society on a regular basis until that has clouded their judgment into thinking everyone they encounter is a dangerous, drug using, miscreant. They change because society demands they protect us from the bad guys. They do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Before anyone thinks I’m joining the anti cop cabal, no. It is still my feeling that most cops are good and want to do good. Bad cops should be exposed and punished. Maybe they made one bad mistake in their careers. That should still be punished the same as the truck driver, pilot, or mine worker who also made one bad mistake in their careers.
Wher can i get a photo/poster of the cop ” Iam going to kik your ass and get away with it ? Thanks
So, what happened to Sgt Dope-Ke ????
#3, #6
Yeah, there’s probably a lot of truth in what you guys wrote. And I agree with Mr. Fusion on that they should be punished in the same degree as any other professional who breaks the rules.
#6, Mr. Fusion, your comment is entirely too well thought out and logical. I’ve got a friend who’s a PD detective, and he still has a sense of humor (thank goodness.) I can’t imagine what he sees daily. Good points.
[off topic]
#5, ECA, if you like APOD, you should also see:
http://www.spaceweather.com/
http://www.space.com/imageoftheday/
Today’s pages are quite good.
#9
That only happens when someone videotapes their mistake, otherwise nothing will happen.
Me thinks someone is going to be very rich once civil proceeding are done. To bad there wont be be any repercussions as usual for the officers lack of restraint and discretion.
#11. that’s the thing. the people who supervise cops, in cases where it is the “miscreant’s” word against the officer’s, almost uniformly take the officer’s word for what happened. videotape or other objective evidence is vital to document police misconduct.
Unfortunately defending yourself against one of these dogs means you have assaulted an officer. A capital offense. In our town the k-9 dept has had several incidents where these soposedly super trained dogs have bit innocent bystanders.
To the police, we are all the enemy.
have you heard the old Georgia saying? IF YOU WANT JUSTICE GO TO THE WHOREHOUSE/ IF YOU WANT A FUCKING GO TO THE COURTHOUSE
12,
THERe is a problem with that…
IT ISNT the cop who pays…ITS YOU…
Which is a BAD thing. I want police that are HUMAN…
This is why pitbulls should be banned.