Alleged poachers caught

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HiBC

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They are innocent till proven guilty,but a couple of Boulder,Colorado police officers have been arrested over the killing of a well known elk named Malcom.

They have been charged with felonies.

Search the news to get the story.

It is unfortunate these officers seem to have made poor choices.

It is good the Division of Wildlife is holding them accountable
 
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thallub

New member
What those cops did is 100 percent industrial strength dumb. They shot a neighborhood elk and failed to report same. Their goose is cooked.

Boulder police officials initially denied reports from neighbors that the animal was shot late Tuesday night, but after seeing pictures of the dead elk provided to the Daily Camera by neighbors, they looked into the matter.

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Boulder police chief Mark Beckner said he would refrain from commenting on the officers' actions until the investigation is complete, but he did say that not filing a report of the incident and not calling someone in to pick up the elk would "not be standard protocol at all."

"We're very concerned," he said.

Boulder police officers are supposed to file a report whenever they discharge their weapon, no matter the circumstances. They typically work with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to determine whether an animal needs to be put down, officials said, and would notify dispatchers before they shot an animal. Officers also are supposed to notify Parks and Wildlife when they take down large animals.
Click to expand...

http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_22303248
 
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FrankenMauser

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What sealed the "poaching" title for me, was reading that the first officer notified another of the dead Elk, through private means (cell phone). The second officer then took the Elk to a meat processor for personal consumption.

...Not to mention the fact, that the first officer never reported discharging his firearm, or any of the other pertinent facts requiring an official report. :rolleyes:

And, to top it all off... They lied about the incident for a few days, before witness statements had piled so high, they couldn't dig themselves back out.
 
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scrubcedar

New member
thallub, "industrial strength dumb" doesn't begin to cover it. This is "The peoples republic of Boulder" we're referring to here. I once had a Boulderite patiently explain to me why legal hunting of "anything with a face" should be prosecuted as murder. While he chowed down on a hamburger. I couldn't do anything but shake my head, finish my own burger and walk away.:rolleyes:
 
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30-30remchester

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Living here in Colorado for most of my life I feel I might have something to contribute. I have not listened to the reports as I figure the news will be slanted. First, it is required of law enforcement officer to put down injured animals to stop the suffereing. Next is is legal and encouraged to harvest the remains of a road kill. You simply take the game home and within 24 hours notify the game wardens for a free permit. This keeps many dead carcasses off the road, helps hungry families, and reduces cost to the state. Many private citizens will finish off road injured deer and elk and it is encouraged as this keep the game wardens from having to respond to limitless game calls. Many police departsment had mild handloads for humane kills inside the city limits, thus reducing the noise problem. Many of these TOWN animals are pests and show no fear of humans. In our town deer will lay down and let people mow their yards around them. Could this elk have been so domesticated that it was presumed wounded and unable to rise? I have no clue. Will wait till it all comes out in the wash. That bizarre region of Colorado known as Boulder, actually held a memorial for the elk and over 200 people actually showed up. Unfortunately more of this nonsense is happeneing all over the state as more and more left leaning loonies are moving into the state.
 
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HiBC

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30-30,I have lived in Ft Collins since 66.I understand your sentiments on Boulder .I think if you read the details you will find this is something other than dispatching a presumed disabled elk.
Example,a series of text messages demonstrating it was pre-planned,followed by erasing all the messages from the phones to remove the evidence.The texts were recovered via the service provider.

As stated in my OP,innocent till proven guilty.

At this point,this does not seem like LEO's performing their duties.
 
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30-30remchester

New member
HiBC, as stated I havent read much about this situation, figured the truth will come out soon. If these officers did everything that they are accused of then it will be interesting to see the punishment phase given all the publicity.
 
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shortwave

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Trophy or not, if proven guilty I hope they get punished to the fullest extent of the law for their crimes plus punished by the department to the fullest extent as well.
 
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TheNatureBoy

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I never feel sorry for LEOs that break the law and get caught. If they are guilty they should be held accountable like we would be.
 
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HiBC

New member
If this pair operates out of bounds on this matter,no telling what else they might do.

I'm glad it will not be swept under the rug,yes,if they are proven guilty,I want them busted the same way I would be busted

What I do not do,is connect this to LEO's in general.

These poachers do not represent LEO's any more than they represent law abiding hunters.
 
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L_Killkenny

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Look, I'm all for punishment but we really need to stop and think about some things. A felony? Really? One critter, it's meat was used. Not 100's shot for profit, meat rotting in fields or anything like that. It used to be that a felony was reserved for the most serious infractions against our communities. You lose guns rights (SD rights) and you lose voting rights. But all over one critter? Give em a fine, take away their jobs, temporarily take away their hunting rights and send em on there way.

Punishment should fit the crime and in no way does felony and this crime belong in the same sentence.
 
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mapsjanhere

New member
The poaching itself might not be a felony. But destroying the evidence, lying to officials etc definitely are. In the old country, they had a special clause "obstruction of justice by a public official", which gave you a 5 year add-on. Really cuts back on the blue wall of silence.
 
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L_Killkenny

New member
You raise some valid points, but not all I agree with. No way should outlying "crimes" be more serious than the original crime. Destroying evidence of a misdemeanor more serious than the misdemeanor itself? Really? The other part I have problems with is current legal policy of turning one crime into many crimes by DA's and the courts. They poached plain and simple. All the other stuff is just piling on for no good reason. Of coarse evidence was destroyed and they didn't give a straight story when asked. That's all part of committing the crime in the first place. Just like tossing a gun in a lake after killin someone is part of the murder. What are they suppose to do, make life easy and toss the gun on the detectives desk and say I did it? By not doing that's a crime too? Where does it stop?

Now you bring up the fact that they were public servants and the deterrent value. You may be on to something. But in general go back to my statement about outlying crimes. There's misdemeanors and then there's felonies. Not any part of this is a felony.

As far as the old country goes.......... Don't hold to much credence in that when it comes to right or wrong or what makes sense and what doesn't. That's like saying sleeping around on my wife is OK cause Clinton did it.
 
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Art Eatman

Staff in Memoriam
Somebody start a new thread when there has been some final resolution, okay? Not much point in our harumphing about it. :)
 
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