London Colvin, 21 year old student and military reservist, standing at 5' 3" and weighing in at 110 lbs, was being held down forcifully by two larger police officers when a third decided non-human intervention was called for.
Whatever the case may be, they had her down on the ground when the dog came. Two of the police officers restrained her on the ground, and then they allowed the dogs to attack her...
Officer Daniel Hudson with the Norfolk Police Department explains why the dog was used:
"When we have a crowd that large, we release dogs for crowd management," he says. "Our dogs are trained to bite in areas that will not cause life-threatening injuries."
...
Hudson claims that releasing the dog helped free up the two officers so they could return to trying to subdue the crowd.
The result of the canine attack is, well, graphic. (And it's below the squiggle for those with weak stomachs).
Colvin's leg was torn to shreds after the dog was released.
Colvin was later transported to a nearby hospital, where she received 40 stitches to close some of wounds on her leg.
The one [wound] that is open on her leg can’t be closed. That’s going to need plastic surgery," Dunn said.
This is what is meant by police terror.
Colvin may have had drunk some alcohol (she was at a party, but the article doesn't say if she imbibed). She may have even been out of control. But I can't think of any conceivable justification for loosing a canine - trained to produce such vicious wounds - on a 110 lb unarmed woman when there were three police officers right there.
These actions are designed with only one thing in mind - to create fear in the population, especially the African-American community. Violent acts that do just that, well, that's the definition of terrorism.
Terrorism is commonly defined as violent acts (or threat of violent acts) intended to create fear (terror), perpetrated for a religious, political, or ideological goal...
- Wikipedia
This is what is meant by police terror.
3:14 PM PT: Another, earlier diary on the same topic.
Police Dogs Turned Loose on Restrained University Student