Police officials commonly use scare tactics to put the kibosh on various criminal-justice reforms by warning that (fill in the blank) legislation will lead to increases in crime or other bad things. Such warnings usually are taken seriously by the public and the media. But the latest example by a central Illinois police official has been the source of widespread mockery — deservedly so.

The head of a police canine training academy in Illinois recently told the Bloomington Pantagraph that if the state goes forward with a marijuana-legalization bill, police would have to euthanize some of their less-social drug-sniffing dogs. The detective, Chad Larner, forgot two cardinal rules when issuing dire warnings. First, never threaten puppies (or kittens). Second, don’t make claims that are easily debunked with a Google search.

[Read the full article over at The Hill.]

 

Image credit: malamooshi

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