Andrea Rosebrock 
It is totally incomprehensible to me that anyone could possibly recommend that NC Trooper Charles Jones be reinstated after viewing the violent abuse against his K-9 that was videotaped! Not only reinstated, but have his back wages and lawyer’s fees paid!
Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison, who handed down the recommendation, stated that Jones was fired without the incident being properly investigated. How the hell much investigation does it take to look at a videotape and see that this trooper’s disciplinary method was violent and abusive? What kind of an excuse can someone give for doing something like that that would make it acceptable?
State employees are not allowed to be fired or demoted unless there is just cause, and the state
must be able to prove that there is just cause in each case. In his ruling, Judge Morrison said that the burden of proof was not met and that Jones was making “a good faith training effort to make Ricoh release.” (News 14)
Good faith training effort?!?!? Hanging, kicking and beating the dog is a “good faith training effort”?
Testimony also included troopers saying training methods included whatever worked with their dogs, including: choke collars, stun guns, sticks, cans filled with rocks, Alpha Rolls, windmilling, helicoptering, tying-off, tethering, lifting-up. They seemed to believe all these to be acceptable ‘training methods’.
Lt. Everett Clendenin, a spokesman for the Patrol, said the agency will likely contest the judge’s ruling. Crime Control and Public Safety Secretary Bryan Beatty still believes Jones should have been fired.
“We’re surprised. We believe this agency did the right thing, based on the investigation, based on the video. “And we stand by that decision that we made,” spokesman Lt. Everett Clendenin said Thursday.
In September on 2007, Sgt Charles Jones was fired from his position after he was videotaped on August 8, 2006, hanging and kicking his K-9 partner, a 9 year old Belgian Malinois, because he would not drop a toy. This was after he had ‘helicoptored’ the dog, a technique in which a dog is swung off the ground by his leash.
“Dog experts say trooper Jones’ conduct was completely unacceptable,” Easley said Thursday following the judge’s decision. “If the state has to resort to that level of cruelty to train dogs demonstrated in the video by trooper Jones, then they will simply not be in the dog business.”
At this point the judge’s ruling is just a recommendation and will be reviewed by the Office of State Personnel, which can reject, modify or agree with the decision.
Jones originally faced a three-day suspension, based on the first video. But patrol Captain Ken Castelloe, who was Internal Affairs director at the time, said he recommended firing Jones after reviewing the second video. He said it showed that Jones’ actions were more egregious because he left the dog hanging after it had released the toy.
Bryan Beatty, secretary of the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, testified that Jones was fired only after a careful review.
Disturbed by evidence that some troopers thought kicking a dog was acceptable training and that testimony about “abusing dogs to get compliance” was inconsistent with an independent review of the K-9 program, Beatty, suspended K-9 operations following testimony from Jones’ hearing.
Morrison also said, “My final conclusion is that the State of North Carolina forego the future use of dogs such as Ricoh for law enforcement purposes, unless it purchases fully trained canines to be handled by fully trained troopers who are given specific written compliance techniques.”
You can watch the video clip below – WARNING – it may disturb some viewers
Public opinion has run high regarding this case with an extreme majority in favor of the firing of the trooper and many feeling that not only should the trooper be fired but also face criminal prosecution for animal abuse.
The PETITION calling for Justice for K-9 officers and prosecution for Jones has almost 1000 signatures, some of them recent as yesterday after the ruling was handed down. Needless to say, people are not pleased!!
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
You can show your displeasure by writing, calling and emailing. Be polite and courteous but let the Judge, Governor and Officers of NC law enforcement know that you are displeased with the ruling and in favor of keeping Jones off the force. The judge’s ruling is NOT FINAL! It has yet to be reviewed by the Office of State Personnel, which can reject, modify or agree with the decision.
WRITE or CALL NOW!
Governor Mike Easley– In favor of the firing
Governor of North Carolina
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-0301
http://www.governor.state.nc.us/email.asp?to=1 or governor.office@ncmail.net
(919) 733-4240 or (919) 733-5811
Crime Control and Public Safety Secretary Bryan Beatty — In favor of the firing
Crime Control and Public Safety Division
4701 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4701
(919) 733-2126 or http://www.nccrimecontrol.org/ContactUs.cfm and choose Office of the Secretary in the dropdown
Captain Ken Castelloe, NC State Highway Patrol – Supported firing (not after seeing the first video, which is absurd, but after watching the second video)
(919) 733-7952
Public Information Officer Lt. Everett Clendenin
(919) 733-5027
Both can be mailed at the following address;
North Carolina State Highway Patrol
4702 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4702
Snail mail properly addressed and politely worded will get the strongest response. No ranting or raving, that will only hurt our position!!
WHAT?!WTF!!Unbelievable!!
@Kerry – Thank you Kerry, my feelings exactly!!
If that *Good faith training effort* was a parent and a child, somebody’s ass would of be jailed immediately without bail, and the child placed in foster care. Let’s point THAT out to Judge Fred Morrison.
I believe only a sociopath could abuse an animal. Particularly, an animal that has been trained and assigned as your protection. That dog deserved better and certainly North Carolina deserves better than to have a man like Charles Jones representing they’re state.
I can not believe they gave the SOB, his job back. If the Humane Society would have caught anyone treating their dog like that, we would be in jail. And they would have taken our dog away from us. I guess the saying NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW! Doesn’t count in this case.
This is wrong in so many ways I can only hope someone steps
in and does the rigth thing I bet trainers from ever state would have something to say about his training of that poor dog if he does that to a dog that he should love what do you think he does to crooks that don,t do what he says …jeffrey aka littledog
I think that’s one of the things that bothers (to put it mildly) me most about this; if it had been an average citizen doing to a dog what this trooper did, they would have been arrested and charged with animal abuse. If someone had some this to a K-9 officer, they’ve had the book thrown at them!!
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I’ve got a suggestion…. if they wound up having to hire him back, ok, hire him back. Then someone can arrest him for animal cruelty and then throw his @$$ in jail. They’ve got the proof.
This just makes you want to rush to your travel agent and make expensive plans visit the beautiful state of North Carolina, doesn’t it? NOT!
According to the article, this is not an isolated incident, as it’s apparently commonplace for the officers to abuse their dogs.
1. NC citizens should vote those bozos out of office.
2. NC officers should NEVER be allowed to have a canine partner unless they’re been psychologically analyzed by a professional from outside NC. And maybe not even then. I’m sure they can do perfectly well without them. And if they can’t, tough.
Sue
the part that realy hurts is that the dog didn’t even try to get away. i wonder how many times this happened to him that he just stayed still and took it hoping to get it over with fast.
and the article says that it is routien for the troopers to do this to thier dogs. and use tasers. something is seriously wrong when officers are allowed to treat their partners like this. something is seriously wrong when a human is knowingly allowed to treat an animal like this. how do they treat their families?