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Coeur d'Alene, Idaho • Internal police reviews found that a Coeur d'Alene officer's shooting of a pet dog in a parked van violated policy, but the officer is still employed by the department, the police chief said.
The reviews concluded Officer Dave Kelley's July 9 shooting of the 2-year-old Labrador retriever mix named Arfee was not a reasonable use of force, Chief Lee White said Friday.
"An argument can be made that Officer Kelley's decision to shoot was reasonable when the dog lunged through the partially open window mere inches away from his face and throat," White said. "However, given the totality of the circumstances, the use-of-force reviews found Officer Kelley's use of force to be out of policy in this incident."
Kelley was responding to a report of a suspicious van parked behind a coffee house. The officer shot and killed a "vicious pit bull" that lunged for an officer's face, said a police statement released that day.
The dog's owner, Craig Jones, said he had parked behind a coffee shop so Arfee would have shade, and he left the window halfway down. Jones was inside the coffee shop, unaware of what was happening outside.
Jones told the Coeur d'Alene Press he has not completely reviewed the Police Department's investigation.
"There is no good news for me. My best friend was brutally killed," he said.
Kelley has 17 years of law enforcement experience, the last seven with the Coeur d'Alene Police Department. City Attorney Mike Gridley said Kelley is still employed with the department.
Gridley declined to comment on any potential disciplinary action, saying Kelley has the opportunity to appeal whatever action is taken.
Police Lt. Robert Turner, who conducted the use-of-force investigation, could not dispute that the dog moved its head out of the van's window, but Turner concluded that Kelley's response was not reasonable.
"Officer Kelley, a seasoned officer of over 15 years of experience, was in an open parking lot with an open business, in the middle of the day, with citizens around and Officer (Jason) Weidebush on the other side of the van. This was a case where Officer Kelley did not have anything behind him to prevent him from gaining distance," Turner wrote in the report.
A separate Use of Deadly Force Review Board unanimously concluded that Kelley's actions "were in violation of the department policies reviewed."
Kelley wrote in his incident report there had been previous reports of a person in a white van possibly trying to entice children. The van's windows were tinted and he could not see inside, so Kelley walked around the van with his weapon drawn, he wrote.
"I was at the driver's side door/window, when suddenly I saw a black dog's head and neck lunge through the open window," Kelley wrote. "The dog was aggressively barking and growling, and its mouth was within inches of my face. I had the split second thought that this dog is going to bite me, and bite me immediately."
Kelley wrote that he fired a round, causing the dog to retreat. The dog was found dead in the back of the van.
White said the shooting has shaken the community's confidence in the Police Department.
"But the relationship between our community and our department will ultimately be strengthened as a direct result of how we respond to the situation and how we improve our agency to prevent similar situations from occurring," he said.