Reward Offered In Killing Of K-9 Officer

The Atlanta Humane Society has added $5,000 to the reward offered for information leading to the arrest of the person who shot and killed a Griffin Police Department German shepherd.
The dog, called Jimi, was taken Monday from the kennel at the Lamar County home of his handler, Griffin police Cpl. Chad Moxon. The dog’s body was found along a road near Yatesville Wednesday. Moxon says his other dog was found alive but badly beaten.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Moxon and his family had already offered a $1,000 reward, so the total reward is now $6,000.
Jimi was trained to detect drugs and explosives and track people. The Lamar County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
UPDATE

"Freddy" Joins Griffin Police K-9 Unit - Animal Replaces Murdered Narcotics, Bomb Dog

by Mike Paluska, CBS Atlanta Reporter

Last November, Cpl. Chad Moxon’s police dog, Jimi, was taken from his home and brutally beaten to death and dumped along the side of a rural Georgia road. With the help of donations, the Griffin Police Department was able to purchase another K-9 for $12,500 to replace the murdered dog. “He is an explosive detecting animal, a man tracker and criminal apprehension dog. Freddy is also the only criminal apprehension bite dog in the Griffin Police Department,” Cpl. Chad Moxon said. Moxon's new partner is Freddy, a 2 and a half-year-old German shepherd. “I don’t think he and I have really bonded they way Jimi and I did yet. He is a little more stubborn you can see right now he doesn’t want to listen and he is a lot more of a cry baby than Jimi was ," Moxon said. "But, we are definitely starting to bond. We are together everyday, work and home." Police are still looking for the person or persons responsible for killing Jimi. “Some days, I think about Jimi a lot more. It makes it hard because we don’t know what happened yet, that makes it that much harder. If we could arrest someone and put them in jail, I would feel a lot better. I want the person who killed Jimi behind bars,” Moxon said. During our interview, the playful shepherd ran off with CBS reporter Mike Paluska’s camera bag and Freddy tried eating the cover to the microphone. "He is the best dog money can buy," Moxon said. “We didn’t expect to receive so many donations from the community and because we got so much money we were able to buy a more highly trained dog to replace Jimi." Rock Springs Church in Milner collected more than $4,000 in donations to go towards buying a new dog. Moxon showed the church this Sunday what they helped pay for. At the end of the service, Pastor Benny Tate brought Moxon on stage with Freddy and to a roar of applause Moxon thanked the community for their support. Freddy already proved how useful a crime fighting tool he is to the community. A few weeks after he was bought, Moxon said he was in an attic attempting to arrest a sexual predator. The arrest turned into a fight with the suspect going for Moxon’s gun that came loose during the struggle. “I pushed the gun away so the guy couldn’t get it, but I was tired and didn’t know how much longer I could keep fighting. Officers downstairs were able to get Freddy over to me and he bit the suspect on the arm and we were able to take the suspect into custody. It would have been a very bad situation if we had not had him,” Moxon said.
UPDATE

Kevin, Geraldine Pippin charged in police K9 shooting

3/1/10

K9'S Jimi and Yeager

A Redbone man has been charged in the shooting of Jimi, a Griffin Police Department K9 assigned to Officer Chad Moxon, here in November. Kevin Pippin, 37, of Yatesville-Forsyth Road was charged Monday with aggravated cruelty to animals and tampering with evidence. His mother, former Lamar tax commissioner Geraldine Pippin, 66, of 1693 Ramah Church Road, has been charged with tampering with evidence. A third person, Deborah Flynt, 40, of Atlanta, also faces one count of tampering with evidence. In a news release, Sheriff Larry Waller said Jimi and another dog belonging to Moxon were not taken from their kennel as originally thought. The dogs had strayed onto property owned by the Pippins when Jimi was shot. The case was worked by GBI special agent Marc Mansfield and LCSO investigators Capt. Todd Pippin and Sgt. Buddy McBride.

$5,000 reward given for information on police dog killing

4/19/10

Georgia

The Atlanta Humane Society on Monday gave a $5,000 reward to the woman who provided the names of two people eventually charged with shooting and killing a Griffin police dog. The reward was for information that led to a conviction, but Lamar County District Attorney Richard Milam said the cases remained unresolved. He plans to ask a grand jury in June to indict Kevin Pippin, 37, and his mother, 66-year-old Geraldine Pippin, for misdemeanor animal cruelty.

The Humane Society said Sherry Hayes gave police the Pipins' names but was unaware of the reward. The German Shepherd, Jimi, disappeared last November from his handler's pen in rural Lamar County. The dog was found dead in a ditch three days later. Jimi's handler, Griffin police Cpl. Chad Moxon, and his family also put up a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for killing the dog that was trained at detecting drugs and explosives and tracking people. Hayes received that $1,000 reward earlier, though the case is still open.

submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA

Suspended police dog handler named

Monday, July 27, 2009, 11:44 POLICE dog handler whose two dogs died after he allegedly left them in his car on the hottest day of the year has been named as PC Mark Johnson. PC Johnson is accused of leaving his two dogs Jet and Jay-Jay in a car outside Notts Police's Sherwood Lodge HQ on June 30. The dogs died after outside temperatures hit 28C. Animal welfare experts said that it would have taken only 20 minutes for temperatures inside the car to reach 47C. PC Johnson and Jet came third at last year's National Police Dog Championship. The RSPCA last week said it will prosecute PC Johnson for causing unnecessary suffering to animals. He has also been suspended by Notts Police, pending the outcome of the case. PC Johnson's was released by a national newspaper.
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA
MORE>>>>>>>>>

Flowers left for dead police dogs

Kevin Guise from the Police Dog and Mounted Section laid flowers at the site
Flowers have been laid at a special memorial site at Nottingham Police Headquarters for two German Shepherd police dogs found dead in a hot car. The animals were found dead in the private vehicle outside the Nottingham headquarters on Tuesday, one of the hottest days of the year. Police and members of the public have left tributes at the scene. In RSPCA investigation has begun and an independent vet will carry out a post-mortem examination. The force has so far declined to release any further information about the dogs or the vehicle they were in, but says lessons will be learnt. The Met Office said it reached 28.1C (82.5F) in Nottingham on Tuesday. Ch Supt. Ak Khan said everyone on the force's Dog Section had been devastated by the incident.
'Absolutely devastated'
"We will certainly take any lessons we can get from this process and make sure we put them in place so this sort of thing never happens again," he said. "This is a tragic incident and we value the important work our police dogs carry out on a daily basis," he said. The Independent Police Complaints Commission was also informed by the force about the deaths. "We have decided it is appropriate for this sad incident to be returned to the police force to carry out its own local investigation," it said in a statement. An RSPCA spokesman said the force reported the incident to them on Tuesday and was "co-operating" with the charity in the investigation.
'Public appeal'
"I am sure this isn't the first incident and it won't be the last," he added. Nottinghamshire Police Authority chairman John Clarke said: "I am deeply disturbed to learn of the deaths of these police dogs, which play such a vital role in the fight against crime. "We are requiring a guarantee from the force that measures are being put in place immediately to ensure that an incident like this can never happen again."
In June last year the Nottinghamshire force made a public appeal for German shepherd dogs to be donated to increase the number of working dogs in the force. Training a police dog to the standard where it can go out with an officer on patrol costs an estimated £7,000 and involves a nine-week intensive course.
The maximum sentence for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal is six months in prison and a £20,000 fine.
"This is a tragic incident and we value the important work our police dogs carry out on a daily basis," he said.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission was also informed by the force about the deaths.
"We have decided it is appropriate for this sad incident to be returned to the police force to carry out its own local investigation," it said in a statement. An RSPCA spokesman said the force reported the incident to them on Tuesday and was "co-operating" with the charity in the investigation.

UPDATE: 2010 February

Police Dog Handler Guilty Of Animal Cruelty -- Rob Cole, Sky News Online
A police dog whose two German Shepherds died when they were left in a sweltering car has been found guilty of animal cruelty.
Mark Johnson, 39, was convicted at Nottingham Magistrates' Court of having unnecessarily confined his dogs "in an environment that was detrimental to their well-being".Johnson, who pleaded not guilty, said he was suffering from depression and obsessive compulsive disorder that had led to him forgetting 18-month-old Jay-Jay and Jet, seven were in the back of the car. Johnson was given a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £2,500 costs.But sentencing him, district judge Tim Devas launched a scathing attack on the police force for not providing enough support to Johnson. He hit out at a police culture which he said ignored "depression and men crying".And Mr Devas said the police officer had no intention of causing any harm to his animals. He said: "Pc Johnson, I hope you can re-build your life and career at the end of this." "I feel a police officer has been let down and this is for the benefit of the police: this is a dreadful error of judgment brought about by an illness way before it happened and PC Johnson should have been given more help," he said. "It is a terribly sad indictment on the police force where you have an officer of his standing who is embarrassed to talk about his illness. "I cannot believe that in the 21st century, depression and men crying is so abhorrent to an institution that nothing can be done about it."He added: "I have no doubt that had PC Johnson received the help he needed then he wouldn't be standing before me here today."

In Loving Memory of
K9 JACK
August 16, 2009

Handler: Sgt. Kelvin "Punkin" Pruett
Franklin County Sheriff's Office
70 East Court Street
Rocky Mount, VA 24151-1720
(540) 483-3000
www.franklincountyva.org

Retired K9 “Jack” passed away August 16, 2009 at the home of Long time Handler and companion, Sgt. Kelvin “Punkin” Pruett. Sgt. Pruett
is handling the loss as good as he possibly can. Jack and Sgt. Pruett have worked together over 10 years. K9 Jack will be sadly missed. "Rest in Peace Deputy, Jack."

(Previous information on Sgt. Pruett)
Sgt. Kelvin Pruett and his partner, Ammo, Sgt. Riley Hodges and Alix, Deputy Brandt Gawor and Drac, Deputy Nick Shockley and C.J., and Master Trainer John Hoover (Nationally Certified Police dog trainer) and partner, Zombie, make up the Franklin County Sheriff's Office K-9 team. Each deputy and partner is a member of the National and Virginia Police Work Dog Association. We are the hub for K-9 training in SW Virginia, dog teams from Police agencies all over the state meet here once a month for training with Deputy Hoover. Franklin County Sheriff's Office believes that the K-9 Team is the greatest asset in the fight against drugs and drug trafficking throughout Franklin County. All K-9s are trained for detecting narcotics. This team is enthusiastic, well trained, and ready for a call at a moments notice.
submitted by Jim Cortina, Dir. CPWDA