Police officer quits after video shows him slamming K-9 into patrol car

A policeman in Salisbury, North Carolina, resigned after a video was released showing him mistreating a K-9 during training.

After a week-long investigation, the Salisbury Police Department announced on Wednesday that it had concluded that the officer depicted in the video, identified as James Hampton, “acted in a manner wholly inconsistent with his K- training. 9 and violated the policy of the police department.

“As a result, he was recommended for dismissal,” the agency said in a statement. “The police department has gone through its disciplinary process, which requires an employee who is terminated to receive a due process hearing.” Following this hearing, and before the police department formalized any disciplinary action, Constable Hampton tendered his resignation, effective immediately. The Police The Department did not encourage or demand the resignation of Constable Hampton, which he offered as of right. “

“The Salisbury Police Department will continue to review and make necessary changes to our K-9 training operations, policies and procedures that align with industry best practices,” the agency added.

Ahead of the announcement of Hampton’s resignation, animal rights organization PETA sent a letter to the North Carolina Police Dog Association Wednesday morning requesting the immediate and final revocation of the state’s certification of Manager K- 9 of the officer.

“This individual’s violent and abusive behavior towards his loyal K-9 partner indicates a serious lack of judgment and decency – qualities that the public demand and the K-9s deserve from their human partners in law enforcement.” , wrote PETA senior vice president Daphna Nachminovich. in the letter.

Video at the center of the investigation shows Hampton placing a leash on the police dog, named Zuul, and pulling the K-9 off the ground by the neck. Zuul suspended in the air, the officer rotates the dog around his back and over his shoulder before heading towards a patrol vehicle. Someone outside the camera is heard saying, “We are good, no witnesses.” Others can be heard talking about turning off their cameras.

Hampton is then seen slamming Zuul to the side of the car as he attempts to lift the K-9 into the vehicle by the leash. The officer yells at Zuul and hits the dog’s head.

The video, which is nearly a minute long, was obtained by the Charlotte ABC affiliate WSOC and other local news stations about a month ago, but the incident is believed to have taken place in October. Police have not confirmed the date the video was taken.

On March 2, when the footage surfaced, the Salisbury Police Department released a statement saying the officer involved had been “administratively separated from the dog” amid an ongoing investigation and that Zuul had “failed” not been injured and was in good health and well cared for. “

The dog appeared at a press conference where Salisbury Police Chief Jerry Stokes read the department’s statement.

“It is important to understand that a police dog is trained to use force against criminal suspects and that a handler must ensure that he has full control over the dog at all times so that any use of the dog on the land is appropriate and legal, ”Stokes told me. “When a dog does not comply with the handler’s commands, the handler is trained to correct the dog. Dog training tactics and corrective actions can sometimes be alarming out of context.”

Amid public outrage over the now viral video, PETA staged a protest outside the Salisbury Police Department on March 5, demanding responses as well as a criminal investigation and proper charges. On the same day, the Salisbury Police Department released another statement saying Zuul was taken to a veterinarian on March 4 “for a check-up” and “received a clean check-up”.

“He is in good hands, happy and healthy, and is taking time,” the agency added.

Veterinary records later released by the Salisbury Police Department confirm that Zuul attended an animal hospital in Concord, about 20 miles southwest of Salisbury, on March 4 for a “semi-annual checkup” . The document says the 3-year-old Dutch Shepherd “had an incident that involved his neck in October 2020” but “is fine” and “shows no clinical signs at this time.” The document further states that Zuul showed “no obvious musculoskeletal or neurological damage from his incident in October.”

“I see no reason why Zuul shouldn’t be trained for police work,” the examiner wrote in the document.