The Los Angeles Police Department is shielding the identity of the officer who shot and killed a Saint Berdoodle last month in Canoga Park, citing threats to the officer’s life.
LAPD Capt. Mike Bland told The Times after the department made the video public the officer’s name has not been released because of an investigation into threats against him. State law and court rulings require law enforcement agencies release the names of officers involved in on-duty shootings, except in cases of a proven threat. On Tuesday, LAPD media relations officials reiterated that stance.
Brett Greenfield, an attorney representing pet owner Marie Marseille, questioned why the department was hiding the officer’s identity and said he was not just seeking transparency but accountability for his client and her 100-pound dog, Jameson.
“Transparency without accountability is meaningless. The police body-worn cameras speak for themselves. The people of Los Angeles can watch it, and they can reach their own conclusions. What they will see is deeply troubling,” he said.
On Thursday, federal court records show, attorneys for Marseille filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles, seeking damages for what the suit contends was undue use of force.
The shaggy golden Saint Berdoodle was killed on June 13 by an LAPD officer while bounding out of Marseille’s Canoga Park apartment. Two officers knocked on Marseille’s apartment door to check on her after a neighbor in the complex called police to say she could not get a response after hearing exclamations of “Oh my God!” coming from Marseille’s apartment.
Body cam video from the officer shows the large dog, wearing a Knicks T-shirt, barked loudly at police when Marseille first opened her door.
As the officers ask Marseille to put the dog away, bodycam video shows the second officer unholstering his gun and backing away from the barking dog. He then puts his gun away after Marseille closes the door.
“Jeez, that’s a big ass dog,” the first officer is heard exclaiming.
“I ain’t getting bit by that, bro,” the second officer says.
Marseille returns to the door and the officer again asks if she put away the dog. She replies, “he’s not aggressive.”
An officer said, “he’s ah, huge, you know what I mean?”
At that point, Jameson comes past Marseille out the door away from the first officer, who tells her to “put him in.” A barking Jameson, however, moves down the passage toward the second officer, who draws his handgun in his right hand and shoots four times.
According to the federal lawsuit filed Friday, Jameson “never barred his teeth, growled at either officer, or otherwise displayed any attempt whatsoever to attack [the officers].”
The suit labels the officer’s acted “recklessly” and a violation of LAPD use of policy that requires an animal pose an immediate threat of injury. The policy is consistent with the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training guidelines on dog encounters, which emphasize that police officers must read canine body language to distinguish between “energetic” and “aggressive” behavior, the suit alleges.
“An energetic dog — one that is excited, moving, barking — is not necessarily an aggressive dog, and the distinction matters under both LAPD policy and the constitutional standard,” the lawsuit stated.
Greenfield in a news conference Tuesday said “the officers were responding to a welfare check, yet the video captures profanity. It captures an unnecessarily aggressive demeanor.”
Standing by Marseille’s son, Jeremiah Garcia, Greenfield said the video “shows a frightened man with a gun who put himself before the badge, instead of relying upon training, judgment, restraint, in which the badge demands that should concern every citizen of Los Angeles.”
The police department did not comment, citing the ongoing litigation. The incident has sparked outrage and questions across the city, prompting Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell to promise a full investigation. The LAPD and Mayor Karen Bass face mounting political pressure to release the responding officers’ body camera footage of the shooting.
The video release came after LAPD brass and top city leaders reviewed the footage and McDonnell conducted what is known as a 72-hour review of the officers’ action, the first step in a lengthy internal investigation process into shots being fired by an LAPD officer. The video released to the public, however, blurs the officer’s face and identity.
Staff writer Paige St. John contributed to this article.
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