Police Dog's Death On Duty To Be Investigated

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

By DON STACOM, Courant Staff Writer - Courant News.

BRISTOL -- Police commanders are ordering a full review into what went wrong at the Sims Road house burglary scene where police dog Bosco was shot dead after attacking a patrol officer.

The investigation will examine the actions of the officer who shot Bosco, the officer assigned to control the dog, and other police who were working at the scene when the shooting occurred.

The inquiry is likely to be done in January, and the police department might make changes in training classes or tactical procedures after reviewing the results, Chief John DiVenere said.

"We're going to look at everything. We want to know what went wrong and make sure it doesn't happen again," DiVenere said.

Bosco, a German shepherd that served as a police dog for two years, was killed by a shotgun blast Tuesday morning when he attacked Officer Bryan Aleia.

Several police officers had surrounded the house at 30 Sims Road after the homeowner reported that his loaded pistols had been stolen and that he thought the burglars were still in his basement.

Aleia stood watch in the backyard, and Officer Greg Blackinton, Bosco's handler, brought the dog through a front door to search the house.

Police evidently didn't realize that the door to the backyard had been left open.

Blackinton released the dog, and it raced through the house, out the back door and directly at Aleia. The dog bit the veteran patrol officer, pulled away, and then charged back toward him, police said.

Blackinton was still at the front of the house, and could not call off Bosco, police said. Aleia fired a 12-gauge shotgun at close range, killing the dog, police said.

Aleia's wound required several stitches. He initially returned to work, but is now out on medical leave, DiVenere said. Blackinton was given time off and is expected to be back to work this weekend.

"It's important to an officer's own peace of mind to get back to work after something like that," DiVenere said.

Bosco was trained to respond only to Blackinton's commands and would not be expected to distinguish between other officers and criminal suspects, DiVenere said.

A detective sergeant will investigate and present his findings to a panel of police commanders, including Det. Lt. Thomas Killiany, Lt. Thomas Grimaldi and Capt. Daniel McIntyre. They will determine if Aleia and Blackinton followed proper procedures, whether Aleia should have fired his weapon, whether Blackinton should have released Bosco from his leash, and who was responsible for ensuring that all exits to the building were closed.

DiVenere said he wants to be sure that if any procedures were at fault, they will be corrected for the future through better training.

Memphis police shot and killed one of their dogs several years ago after it began biting officers outside a burglarized building. Lt. L.T. Brown, a supervisor in that department's canine unit, said police dogs should never be unleashed during a building search if any exits are left open.

"You cannot take the dog off the leash if there's a remote possibility that the building isn't secure," Brown said.

Bosco will be cremated, and police will organize a small ceremony. A picture of Bosco and Blackinton has already been put up in a display case in the lobby of police headquarters.

The city was already negotiating to buy another police dog from a European breeder and will now seek to buy two. The dogs cost $9,000 to $10,000 each. Many residents and businesses have offered contributions during the past two days, police said.