Ocala Police Department disciplines two officers who shot and killed three aggressive dogs

• Two Ocala police officers were disciplined for violating department policy in the shooting death of three dogs.
• The officers were responding to a call about aggressive dogs that had chased a resident.
• While the initial shots were deemed justified, the officers continued to shoot at one of the dogs after it was injured and no longer posed a threat.
• The department has since updated its policy on use of force against animals, emphasizing non-lethal options.

Two Ocala Police Department officers were suspended for violating the agency’s use of force policy when they shot and killed three aggressive dogs.

Police Chief Mike Balken announced the disciplinary actions Wednesday during a press conference held in the department’s Community Room.

Officer John McCurdy was suspended for 100 hours for violation of department directive 3.02(c) serious misconduct, referencing a violation of the use of force policy. McCurdy, a four-year officer, also was removed from the Field Training Program.

Trainee Jordan Woods, who at the time was in field training for less than a month, was suspended for 20 hours for the same violation, the chief said. Woods was sworn in in December, police officials said.

The chief said once the internal investigation was finished, the findings were sent to a disposition panel to see if a policy or policies were violated. He said the panel “sustained a serious misconduct violation of our use of force policies against both officers.”

“I agreed with those findings, and subsequently, we moved to discipline both of them,” Balken said.

According to a memorandum, both officers dated and signed the document on Tuesday.

What happened?

At issue is what happened in the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 29, when a homeowner in the Bellechase subdivision called to report that multiple aggressive dogs had chased him home.

The information was related to Marion County Animal Services. But that agency was unable to contact the caller, so they asked OPD to check on the person.

McCurdy and Woods went to the home and met with the caller. Entering the residence, the officers saw the dogs, all pitbulls, outside the caller’s screened porch. The dogs were barking aggressively and digging and scratching at the screen, trying to get inside, the chief said. He also released officer body camera video that shows the dogs at the porch.

The officers called animal services and were told representatives were 45 minutes away. Animal services officials asked the officers to stay at the home, monitor the situation, and be available to assist if needed when they got there.

The chief said the officers stayed with the homeowner for 40 minutes and the dogs were in the backyard. But then the dogs ran to the front of the residence.

The officers also went to the front and saw someone jogging nearby. Balken said the officers feared for the jogger’s safety and one of the officers yelled at the jogger to turn around.

Hearing the officer’s voice, the dogs attention focused on the officers and the animals ran at them, the video shows.

With the dogs closing in, the officers fired shots at the animals, hitting them. Balken said said two of the dogs were “immediately incapacitated in the driveway” and the third dog was injured.

The third dog ran toward the back of the home, the chief said. Thinking the dog may still be a threat to others in the area, the officers chased after the dog, firing more shots until the dog died. The officers then fired two more shots, euthanizing the firsts two dogs, the video shows.

Policy changes

In total, the officers fired 30 shots. Balken said that although no one was injured, the caller’s garage door, a vehicle, and the side of the residence were damaged by a bullet, bullet fragments or ricochets.

McCurdy and Woods were immediately re-assigned pending the results of an administrative review, including an internal affairs investigation, the chief said.

Balken said: “It is important to note here that the panel concluded that the initial shots fired by both officers at the front of the home were in fact justified.”

“However,” the chief added, “once the third dog ran off, it posed no further reasonable danger and therefore the remaining shots were unnecessary and potentially reckless in nature.”

In the wake of this incident the police department has a new policy for use of force against aggressive animals. Balken said the new policy “requires officers to utilize non-lethal options whenever possible and highly encourages pepper-spray as the preferred method for dealing with aggressive animals.”

The chief said his agency also has “incorporated practical training related to encounters with aggressive animals, and again that training puts a huge emphasis on pepper-spray being the preferred method for dealing with dangerous animals.”

“In the end, I’m never going to remove an officer’s ability to use deadly force when they reasonably believe that there’s a risk of great bodily harm or death,” the chief said. “And when that happens, and we get it right, I’m going to stand behind them. Unfortunately, this was a very tragic event which I believe we simply got wrong. Our actions were unreasonable, and we’ve had to take measures internally to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

Pet owners

Having said all that, Balken also said: “I wouldn’t be standing here right now if these animals had been properly confined by their owner.”

He said: “It’s probably a good time to remind every pet owner out there that you not only have a legal responsibility, but a moral obligation to your pet to ensure they remain properly confined and not permitted to threaten or harass others.”

The chief said he checked with the State Attorney’s Office and was told it wouldn’t be filing any charges against the officers or the dogs’ owners. He said there had been previous complaints by neighbors about the dogs.

The resident who placed the call on Jan. 29 lives within the city limits. The dogs’ owners live in the county. County officials said in the past few months, multiple citations have been given to the owners about the dogs.

The citations note the dogs were at large, did not have county licenses, and did not have proof of rabies vaccination. Other neighbors have complained about the dogs, county officials said.

Reactions to the shooting have been mixed, the chief said. They range from support to accusations of improper use of force.

Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com

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