DURHAM — State police turned over to local police the prosecution of a news photographer charged with disorderly conduct after taking a photo of a police dog attacking a student two weeks ago.
Durham police are now handling the case against Aaron Rohde, a Foster’s Daily Democrat photographer, arrested by state police for disorderly conduct after he snapped several photos of Trooper Mark Hall’s dog biting the leg of 20-year-old student Alex Klotz. The incident occurred shortly after midnight on Oct. 28 while thousands of people flooded Main Street to celebrate the Red Sox winning the World Series.
Both Klotz and Rohde have said that Hall refused to give his name when asked and state police contend that officers are "encouraged" but not required to give their names. But according to state law, officers are required to wear identifying "name tags" when on duty, with an exception for undercover officers. Officers in riot gear that night were not wearing badges or "name tags."
In the week following the incident, Durham police referred all calls about the case to the state, saying all information obtained in the incident had been forwarded to state police investigators. But recently, State Police Director Frederick Booth informed Foster’s that Durham was handling the case. Deputy police Chief Rene Kelley would not say how long they have been involved or if at any point the case had even left the department.
"It’s a joint review of us putting all the data together so we’d be able to present a viable case," said Durham police Chief Dave Kurz, who confirmed that the case was in Durham’s hands.
Kelley will not comment on the case until it makes it’s way to court. He will handle Rohde’s arraignment in Durham District Court on Dec. 2 at 8:30 a.m. If the case goes to trial, it will be handled by Durham prosecutor Thomas Dunnington.
Also, state police still refuse to say whether there is an investigation into Hall’s use of a state police dog, captured in a series of photographs by Rohde, as it bit Klotz on the leg. Hall refused to identify himself to Klotz after Klotz stated he wanted to file a complaint and asked for his name.
According to state rabies control law, a police K9 handler is required to file an incident report if his or her dog bites someone. The handler will then be responsible for observing the dog for 10 days after the bite has occurred and then has to have the dog examined for rabies. The incident report shall remain confidential, according to the law.
Also, police officers are required by state law to wear a "name tag" clearly visible on his or her uniform. The exception to the law applies to officers "on special duty when such duty requires that his identity as a police officer not be disclosed."
That clause clearly refers to officers working undercover, said Howard Friedman, a Boston-based civil rights lawyer who specializes in police misconduct cases.
Trooper Hall was not working undercover that night, but wearing riot gear that did not have any name identification on his uniform. Even with riot gear, Friedman said, police officers should have some kind of identification on their uniforms.
"You can’t have accountability if officers are going to go around and refuse to identify themselves," he said.
Hall had also refused to give his name to Rohde, who was eventually tackled by several officers and initially told he was being charged with assaulting an officer, but was charged with disorderly conduct for failing to back away from a police dog, which Hall was handling.
"That is not only a false arrest, but a First Amendment violation," Friedman said.
Hall has not yet returned phone calls to Foster’s and state police will not give information on how to reach the K9 unit’s commander, Sgt. Patrick Palmer, who is training in Maine for the next several weeks.
Though state police have been in contact with Foster’s, no official has commented on either the attack on Klotz or the arrest of Rohde. Photographs clearly show Hall pulling the dog off Klotz’s leg. Klotz suffered a visible bite wound to his leg.
Even well-trained police dogs will get excited when surrounded by large crowds, such as the thousands in Durham who poured onto the Main Street after the Red Sox won the World Series Oct. 27, said Officer Jim Lgunggren, president of the New England region for the U.S. Police Canine Association. Though he couldn’t comment on the events of the night, he said the photos showed what looked to be an accidental bite. New Hampshire State Police have their own K9 training academy, he said.
A trainer for 17 years and an officer in Auburn, Mass., he commended the New Hampshire State Police on the quality of their training program. If the dog is trained to protect the handler, he said, it will usually get more worked up in a crowd control situation. Also, they are trained to make a full mouth bite and hold on one attempt, grabbing a person firmly just once as to avoid multiple bites, such as in an apprehension.
In Massachusetts, Lgunggren said, the K9 units are used as a line of defense in large crowd control situations and that force is usually used if a person is not complying with the officer. The use of dog and handler teams is a good deterrent for large crowds, he said.
"If this was a large disturbance the dogs will naturally get excited," he said.
The dog in this case grabbed mostly Klotz’s pant leg in the photo, but did break the skin, leaving a visible scar on his leg. Klotz also said the dog had initially bitten him in the buttocks.
"An officer doesn’t necessarily know when the dog has made contact," said state police Capt. Susan Forey over week ago during a phone interview.
The photograph of Klotz being bitten shows Hall directly behind his dog while it bites Klotz’s leg.
State police Capt. Christopher Colitti, in charge of operations that night, could not speak to K9 policies and procedures, but has said Klotz didn’t necessarily need the specific name of the officer to file a complaint against the officer, who was wearing riot gear and no name identification.
"Anytime someone gets bitten I think it’s very unfortunate," he said.
He was unsure of whether Hall filled out a use of force report detailing the incident between his dog and Klotz. Also, it is not known whether Klotz has filed a complaint, but had previously said he was seeking legal services from the University of New Hampshire.
Though Klotz commended the various police forces for controlling what could have been a dangerous situation that night he feels Hall could’ve have done a better job controlling the dog and could’ve been more open about identifying himself, as he was not wearing any identification.
"I think because I couldn’t get the guy’s name, it hurts my ability to do anything about it," he told Foster’s in a previous interview.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.