July 6, 2014 Salt Lake City Police Department PO Box 145497 SLC, UT 84114-5497 Attn: Police Chief Chris Burbank and Detective Brett Olsen Chief Burbank and Detective Olsen, Detective Olsen, your reprehensible execution on June 18, 2014 of a defenseless animal for no reason has no excuse and you should resign your position immediately. Chief Burbank, your ludicrous attempt to defend your detective is an embarrassment and you should also resign your position immediately. The ill-advised lack of judgment on both of your parts should not be tolerated by the citizens of Salt Lake City, and you should each also forego any retirement or termination benefits due to your pathetic, inexcusable behaviors. Detective Olsen: You were searching for a lost child; an admirable task, one of many you are charged to perform WITH DILIGENCE AND SAFETY THAT YOU DID NOT USE. Did you have any reason to believe that the child was located in the private yard you invaded? Did you see any child being harmed by the dog? Was there any cause for you to believe that you needed to pursue investigation of that particular site at that immediate time to find the child instead of gaining access properly by contacting the owner or resident? Did you bother to take any action other than drawing your weapon and executing the dog? No, apparently not. Thoughtless, unprofessional, inexcusable. You should be terminated by your superiors for your actions; however, since your Chief is part of the problem here, resign and try to maintain some measure of dignity in light of your poorly chosen actions. Chief Burbank: Your defense of this action shows a lack of professionalism, a lack of leadership, a lack of understanding, a lack of compassion, and frankly, a lack of humanity. Your officer executed an animal for no good reason. Yes, that will raise significant outcry; deal with it rather than complain about it. I am not an animal activist; I love pets and animals, but not at the expense of humans, and understand that sometimes situations arise where a choice needs to be made between human life and an animal’s life. THAT IS VERY CLEARLY NOT THE CASE HERE; YOUR DETECTIVE SHOT AND KILLED WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT, AND WITHOUT A FIRST THOUGHT. I am not one who lacks respect for authority or law enforcement. I support proper and correct law enforcement and those who put their lives on the line to do so. WHAT LAW WAS BROKEN HERE? WHY WAS THE FIRST THOUGHT OF THIS DETECTIVE “SHOOT THE DOG” RATHER THAN “CALL ANIMAL CONTROL”? I find it ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE to believe that a seasoned, experienced law enforcement professional who has risen to the rank of detective had no other available reaction or response than to shoot to kill, or couldn’t get out of the dangerous situation through the same gate he entered before firing a shot. More importantly, THIS DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO HELP FIND THE CHILD, yet you try to spin the story. ‘I cannot in my mind imagine an officer coming forward and saying we didn’t do all we could to find a missing child.” Nor can I; however, shooting the dog had nothing to do with finding the child. His actions are indefensible, yet you chose to defend them, and to further condemn the public outcry it has caused. In your 23 years, how many dogs have your officers shot senselessly? You may demand that your officers treat the public with respect and you may demand the same respect for your officers who act with the same respect for the public. But if it’s a dog, shoot it, and leave me alone, my detective did his job? NOT TODAY, NOT ANY DAY. QUIT. NOW. You deserve to hear nothing but that public outcry 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until you resign. Once again, please, both of you resign your positions. You clearly have lost sight of the values and actions needed to properly fulfill your duty to the public trust. Sincerely, George Gallagher
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 15:50:43 +0000
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