Officer Friendly - an imminent danger to you

I read this story immediately after reading the post Whatever happened to Officer Friendly? by Dick Stanley.

Police in Hawthorne, Calif. are facing criticism after an officer was caught on video shooting and killing a dog after arresting his owner for shooting video on the street.

Leon Rosby was reportedly walking back to his car from the dog park with his 2-year old Rottweiler Max, when he spotted a police barricade and decided to film them with his phone to make sure they weren't violating anyone's civil rights.

The rest of the story could be watched in this clip, helpfully recorded by a third party:



The man could be an obnoxious busybody, however it's hard to see in his actions something unlawful. Officer Friendly decided differently, with the results you have watched. And, of course, they decided to throw the whole readily available book at him:

After killing his dog, police arrested Rosby for Obstruction of Justice, playing loud music, walking a large dog, and getting too close to officers.

I hope he gets a good lawyer. As for that crapola:

Fearing that the attacking Rottweiler would imminently bite the officers, one officer fired his duty weapon several times, striking and killing the dog.

The officer that started the whole mess out of pure cussedness, richly deserves to be bitten by the dog (PBUH).

As Dick says in his post:

And we citizens increasingly are afraid of them. With very good reason.

Yep. I guess I share the sentiment, and I am not thinking of USA cops at the moment...

Update: as you can see in the comments, there are some facts that make the obnoxiousness of the dog owner  rise in my estimation. However, the gist of the matter remains: the cops overreacted.

Update 2 Another item (no, it doesn't clear Mr Rosby of his obnoxiousness, but shows what police is able to do when disturbed):

A statement from the Hawthorne Police Department detailed his alleged interference: "This interference included loud, distracting music (from the individual's vehicle), and his intentional walking within close proximity to armed officers, while holding an 80-pound Rottweiler on a long leash-line," the statement said.

"Close proximity"? But the man has never got close to the cops before they approached him.