Well if anyone read my post yesterday I had an article about a drug raid where two dogs where killed. Yes DEA is on tonight for 2 hours and maybe I'll get to catch it not really sure. The thing is though what if some breaks down a door and they don't find any drugs or they kill dogs who aren't really a threat. Well here is the other side to the story where the cop is sorry he had to kill the two dogs. Hopefully someone finds it interesting.
"I made a decision in a split second to kill both dogs, and I've got to tell you, I don't feel good about that." Detective Sgt. Daniel Rinaldo
Updated: 03/31/09 09:34 AM
For police, killing of dogs was safety issue
2 were ready to attack in raid, detective says, but residents say their animals were fleeing
By Lou Michel
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
In a split second, Detective Sgt. Daniel Rinaldo decided he had to kill two dogs that appeared ready to attack during a police drug raid Saturday, despite assertions to the contrary from residents of the South Buffalo home where the raid occurred.
Rinaldo, in a news conference Monday, explained that he felt terrible about shooting the dogs but that the safety of him and other officers outweighed sparing the animals.
He disputed contentions by Rita Patterson, 27, and her father, Daniel, 68, who said the family pit bull terrier and pit bull-boxer mix were trying to get away from SWAT team members who burst into the house about dinnertime.
"It's an absolute lie," Rinaldo said.
"The situation was regrettable, but there was nothing I could do. The dogs were initially startled and went back on their hind legs and began barking and advancing toward me. I made a decision in a split second to kill both dogs, and I've got to tell you, I don't feel good about that."
Growing emotional, Rinaldo added that he has been a police officer 26 years and has owned two dogs, both strays he took home after finding them on the East Side.
Rinaldo said that police brass regularly urge the SWAT team to find less lethal alternatives for dealing with dogs during raids but that the consensus among similar-sized police departments is that there is no alternative. He said he has no recollection of Daniel Patterson's pleading with officers to allow him to put the dogs in another room, as the man contends.
"Keep in mind, this is happening in seconds, and the alternative was for me to get bit, and there would be mass confusion in this house," Rinaldo said.
The raid was one of nine conducted as part of an operation targeting gangs, guns and drug dealers in Kaisertown and South Buffalo. Police said they arrested 11 people, confiscated 10 ounces of cocaine and crack cocaine, a .38-caliber handgun and $1,300.
During a six-month investigation, undercover police and confidential informants made purchases of illegal drugs at the locations, including the Indian Church Road residence in South Buffalo, officers said.
"Drugs were purchased at that location based upon complaints of prescription drugs. After the SWAT team executed the search warrant, prescription drugs were found at that location. The reason arrests weren't made [was] they were legally prescribed to someone at that location," said Lt. Paul R. Delano, a Narcotics Squad supervisor. "Put 2 and 2 together: Somebody's selling drugs out of that location."
The prescription drug illegally sold was hydrocodone, police said.
"Some of the houses were doing as much as $5,000 a day in drug sales for at least a six-month period," Mayor Byron W. Brown said.
Both the mayor and Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson expressed support for Rinaldo and the overall conduct of the SWAT team. Gipson said sprays and other alternatives to shooting dogs have proved insufficient in halting dogs from attacks during raids.
Dogs kept at drug houses, Delano said, are not pets in the traditional sense, but rather "tools" used by drug dealers.
About a week ago, when a search warrant was being carried out on the East Side, police encountered seven dogs. One of the dogs was beside a toddler, and police were delayed long enough that a suspect they would normally have captured had time to jump out a rear second-floor window and escape, the lieutenant said.
Police said that in the last two years, more than 2,000 search warrants have been carried out and that on numerous occasions officers will try to avoid shooting dogs kept by drug dealers. Rinaldo, who serves as a Homicide Squad supervisor, said SWAT members often try to scare dogs and lock them in a closet or bathroom.
"I own three dogs myself, and in raids, it's a horrible thing," Delano said of dogs that are killed. "The blame needs to be placed on the owners."
As for the South Buffalo raid, Delano said that a day later, Sunday, William F. Hanavan, 32, the boyfriend of Rita Patterson, was charged with assault after attacking a neighbor whom Hanavan blamed for the raid. "He was trying to find out who was our confidential informant," Delano said.
Hanavan, 32, of Duerstein Street, was at the Patterson home during the raid but was not charged. Hanavan's parole from a drug conviction ended March 2, according to the State Division of Parole.
The Amherst and East Aurora police departments, state police and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration assisted city officers with Saturday's raids.
Those arrested Saturday were: William Robinson, 19, and Brittaney Slisz, 18, both of Gorski Street; Ronald Frida, 24, Johnny Nelson, 23, and Timilla Taylor, 18, all of Norman Avenue; Daniel Birkmeyer, 22, of Barnard Street; Curtis Clemons, 21, of Cambridge Avenue; Nelson Rodriguez, 18, of Genesee Street; Anwar Jackson, 17, of Olsen Street; Bryan Slisz, 44, of Weiss Street; and Kadeem McWilliams, 19, of Weimar Street. Police said the charges are all drug-related but did not provide specific charges.
Gipson said two men remain at large: Anthony Cameron, 28, and Paul Tucker, 19. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the police confidential tip line at 847-2255.
lmichel@buffnews.com
Maybe it was the mood I was in. I think If I would have known there was a love story I would have like it better, I think If I knew it took place during the 80's I would have liked it better. I saw Ryan Rennolyds (two guys and a Pizza place and bunch of other comedies) and some SNL people so I thought it would be pretty funny or at least if it wasn't there would be a lot of sex Jokes and Nudity. It wasn't at all what I was expecting, I think if I would have known what it was, I would have still seen it. But there is stuff about weed in it, so maybe you are supposed to smoke up before you see it?
Last time I was there was when John Kerry was running for office, Yes they had a rally there that day that I didn't know about. If I remember correctly some of the stuff stays there like kinda forever and then other stuff comes and goes or things come there to visit. I hope when you go you have a great time and that they have a lot of new stuff.
The trailer to Adventureland looks rather funny, good to know that it isn't so much of a comedy.
I'm planning a trip to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, so it will be fun to know there are new things to look for since my last visit a couple of years ago.