Sunday, August 25, 2019

Law For Me But Not For Thee?

I wonder if I could legally break the windows of the police car to rescue this dog:
Police in Long Beach, California, are mourning a K9 officer that died apparently of heat-related causes in a department vehicle.

The dog, Ozzy, was found by its handler when both were off-duty about 3:40 p.m. on August 14, the Long Beach Police Department said in a statement.

"This unfortunate incident was not intentional," the statement reads. "Preliminarily, we believe this was an accident and we are taking all the necessary steps to avoid this happening in the future."
It's never intentional, and I wonder if any ordinary citizen would be given such a pass.

Did you know it's legal in California to break a car window to rescue a dog or child?
“California’s new law (AB 797) sets out a measured and reasonable way for citizens to respond to animals trapped in hot cars. In requiring citizens to use ‘no more force to enter the vehicle and remove the animal than … necessary,’ the law encourages a calm and effective response to these emergencies, protecting the animals involved,” he said. “Using as much force as necessary to get the animal out of the hot car — and no more — means that the animal is removed from a deadly environment, while being exposed to as little associated trauma as possible.”

5 comments:

Mike Thiac said...

Good to know the DPRK ranks kids and dogs on the same level.

And yes, if the kid is in distress, I can break the glass. I've done it more than once, usually with the approval, i.e. screaming "Get my baby out," of the mother next to me.

Darren said...

The question, officer, is what would have happened if some citizen had broken the police car window to rescue that dog.

Anna A said...

Not sure about breaking a window to let the dog out.

BUT, in the case of a child the forgetful parent would likely be charged with a crime.

Darren said...

Anna A, I can legally break a car window in California to let a dog out. I'm curious what would have happened if I broke the cop car window.

As for leaving children, plenty of people have been charged with crimes for leaving their children to die in cars. I don't recall specific stories about people being charged merely for leaving kids in a car (age appropriate, of course).

Mike Thiac said...

One, that is sergeant, Mr . Miller. :<)

Two, to answer your question, in my department, we would thank you for you saving our four legged fur missile. The K9 vehicles have AC to where the dog sits, but sometimes ACs fail, etc. And we don't want to loose a cop, two or four legged. And all we would need from you is your basic info (name, etc) for a report. You know we're going to have to document every damn thing.