UTILIZATION OF CANINES AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO DEADLY FORCE
The United States Court of Appeals First Circuit has decided in one case
that Police Dogs are not deadly force: Jarrett v Town of Yarmouth.
The United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit has decided in three cases that Police Dogs are not deadly force: Robinette v Barnes, Matthews v Jones and Dunigan v Noble.
One case out of the Eight Circuit: Kuha v City of Minnetonka, specifically states that Police Dogs are not deadly force.
Nine cases out of the Ninth Circuit: Gilliam v County of Los Angeles, Fikes v Cleghorn, Quintanilla v City of Downey, Vera Cruz v City of Escondido, Brewer v City of Napa, Miller v Clark County, Parra v City of Chino, Chrysler v City of West Covina and Martineau v City of Cypress all specifically state that Police Dogs are not deadly force.
One case out of the Tenth Circuit: Marquez v City of Albuquerque, states that Police Dogs are not deadly force.
At least one
city, San Diego, California, researched this issue and agreed with the
courts:
In 1990, officers in the San Diego Police Department shot 22 suspects,
killing 12 of them. Public outcry denounced the department because many of
the suspects were not armed with firearms, but instead wielded non-traditional
weapons such as a trowel, baseball bats and assorted knives.
As a result, the Police Chief expanded the canine unit to increase
the available number of teams. The handlers and dogs were specifically
trained to be “…
AN ALTERNATIVE TO USE OF DEADLY FORCE…”,
thereby expanding the dogs’ previous responsibilities, which included
building and area searches, finding evidence, narcotics or explosives.
In the ensuing years people armed with all types of non-traditional
weapons have been taken down by dogs, and…
many incidents have been resolved without either the dog biting the
suspect,
or the officer having to resort to deadly force.
The San Diego Police Department has witnessed firsthand proof that…
the use of Police Service Dogs does, in fact, reduce the
likelihood of either the officer or suspect
resorting to deadly force.
Created
and maintained by Terry Fleck. Contact: k9fleck@aol.com
Copyright © 1999
- 2008 Terry Fleck. All rights reserved.