Gainesville Police Sgt. Mary Birkhold had a perfect partner in Urk.
Urk was a police dog, a four-legged law enforcer used to catch fleeing suspects, search buildings, sniff out drugs or explosives and prevent crime.
The officers who work and live with their dogs cherish their companionship and abilities to catch fleeing suspects, often in situations too dangerous for a human officer.
Those abilities have triggered occasional criticism that dogs are used unfairly, sometimes in violation of a suspect's constitutional rights and, some say, too often against black suspects.
One suspect, Stonny Barnett, has scars from Urk, who bit him in the leg as police arrested him outside his girlfriend's apartment. This arrest and others have prompted Gainesville attorney Robert Rush to file several lawsuits alleging that the use of dogs may, in some cases, violate a suspect's constitutional right to an arrest in a reasonable manner.
Some speakers at the recent Police Community Committee meetings said police are far more likely to release the dogs on blacks.
Police dogs, Rush said, "are great tools for tracking and following, but their utilization as a weapon is very problematic because it's a weapon that is not under complete control. Imagine issuing a firearm to an officer who could only control its discharge most of the time. That's what they do with dogs."
Birkhold is in charge of the K-9 unit for the Gainesville Police Department and has long worked with police dogs. She said the dogs are effective, eager workers that undergo more than 400 hours of training with their partners.
While Birkhold would not comment on specific lawsuits in which she is involved, she said suits and complaints in general are upsetting and unfounded.
"Absolutely, it bothers me. Of course it does. They make serious allegations that are untrue. It really is a personal attack on your character," she said. "I'm very upset by it a lot of the time. You do everything right and the best you can, then you have these things brought up. It wears on you."
Law enforcement experts say the use of police dogs is complicated and deeply layered.
Yes, dogs can be effective tools. Yes, dogs can be used wrongly. Police fear being bitten by dogs at a home or business to which they are responding, but have no qualms about fellow officers releasing dogs to bite others. And given historical visual images of dogs used to attack blacks -- from desgregation marches in the U.S. to the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa -- it is no wonder blacks are especially sensitive to the use of dogs.
"Police dogs have been used for a long time. How they are used is the issue, not are police dogs good or bad," said Frederick Shenkman, a University of Florida criminology professor. "They are not a non-invasive way of effect an arrest. Should police dogs be used? Certainly, under certain circumstances. Can police dogs be misused? Certainly. The dogs can be a very effective tool if judiciously and properly used. But obviously a police dog is potentially a very, very violent weapon."
The use of police dogs is controversial nationwide.
Both the Los Angeles city police and county sheriff's departments came under intense media and court scrutiny for high rates of bites. The Miami Police Department has also caught considerable criticism, and suits have been filed against West Palm Beach police for use of dogs.
GPD's K-9 unit has seven teams of dogs and handlers, including Birkhold and her current dog, Caesar. All are German shepherds and they are expensive -- from $2,500 to $3,800, usually bought from European breeders.
The Alachua County Sheriff's Office has eight teams of officers and patrol dogs -- all German shepherds.
Birkhold said German shepherds make the best police dogs because they have ideal characteristics -- stamina, intelligence, trainability, loyalty and a willingness to bite.
"You don't use the most aggressive dog out there because control is a major factor. We don't want a dog that would just bite out of meanness. We want a smart dog that will do as it's told," she said.
The dog and the officer, also called the handler, train together to develop working unity and a close bond. The dogs are between 18 and 24 months old when training starts, just beyond puppyhood. The dog lives with the handler and goes on patrol with the handler.
The two typically become very attached, with the officer viewing the dog as a regular partner. Birkhold, for instance, still becomes emotional when talking about Urk, who was put down several years ago after developing liver disease.
Both GPD and the sheriff's office have extensive policies regarding training and use of dogs, including guidelines for bite situations.
The sheriff's policy, for example, states that handlers "should exhaust all reasonable means to effect an arrest without incurring a dog bite."
Both agencies require the officers to give warnings before releasing the dogs.
The sheriff's policy allows dogs to be used in both misdemeanor and felony cases. GPD allows dogs only in felony cases.
"It's just a philosophy or policy difference. There should be judgment used by the handlers on a case-by-case basis," said sheriff's Sgt. Jim Troiano. "Each situation is different. It has to be based on criteria by call."
Birkhold said the presence of a police dog is typically all it takes to stop a fleeing suspect. Actual bites are rare.
"Most people are smart enough to know that they can't outrun a dog and don't want to tangle with it," Birkhold said. "We've had 162 apprehensions this year with just six bites. That is a 3.7 percent bite ratio. The courts find up to 30 percent to be acceptable."
A bite ratio is the number of bite incidents that occur compared to the number of times the K-9 unit is brought out. The six city bite cases involved burglary of a business; burglary of a residence; grand theft auto; carrying a concealed firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, and robbery with a firearm; attempted grand theft; and felony hit-and-run and leaving the scene of an accident with injuries.
Rush has a different view about the use of dogs. This year he has filed two suits against Gainesville police and two against the sheriff's office. He does not claim discrimination, though he does say most bites involve blacks. His lawsuits allege the use of dogs was a violation of his clients' Fourth Amendment right to a reasonable arrest.
He said his clients were not armed, were not a threat and were not suspected of serious crimes.
"To deploy a police dog to seize a person for minor conduct, when they are not a threat to the officer or the public, and they are not fleeing felons -- it is my opinion that it is unlawful use of force under Florida law and that it violates the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution," Rush said.
"If you are trying to catch a rapist, an armed robber, a murderer -- these are permissible uses. That is not the way they are being used in this town."
Stonny Barnett is a client of Rush. He was bitten in 1995 by Urk while fleeing his girlfriend's apartment after breaking a window. Police reports said Barnett had been there earlier, getting into a drunken argument.
Barnett had an extensive bite on his leg and was charged with burglary and resisting or obstructing an officer without violence.
Rush said the circumstances did not warrant the use of a police dog. Birkhold would not talk about the case because she is a defendant. Court documents show that Birkhold and the other parties named in the suit -- including the city of Gainesville -- deny the allegations.
Among the complaints is that dogs are more often used on blacks and minorities. That issue was raised at meetings of the Police Community Committee, which was formed by Gainesville City Manager Wayne Bowers to address concerns that blacks have about the police department.
Resident Beverly Craig complained about the use of dogs and said she may take the issue to the Gainesville City Commission.
"Most of the people bitten by dogs are blacks and the statistics show that," Craig said. "The public is becoming aware of this now. I'm not against the police, and the dogs are necessary in some cases. I want the city commission to be aware of it. If you go to the top, they are in a position to resolve anything."
Of the six people bitten this year, five are black, according to police.
Birkhold said the dogs are sent to any scene in which they are needed. She added that most of those turn out to involve blacks.
"We don't ever try to hide that, but our dog teams are reactive. They are not going out and confronting people, causing them to run. By the time they get to the scene, whatever crime has occurred and whoever committed that crime has already made that decision," she said. "We don't go to a scene and ask the race of the person. If it is a black man, we don't tell the victim that we can't look for the man because we're not equal with black and white apprehensions. I think that would be a horrible thing to have to say to a crime victim."
Shenkman said the issue goes deeper than that. Police may be more likely to send the dogs to types of incidents that typically involve minorities or the poor.
He added that the use of police dogs is a serious action within the scope of methods police have to make arrests.
"It is equally against the law for a rich person and a poor person to sleep under the bridge, but which people never sleep under the bridges? The issue is very complicated if you look at rich and poor, black and white and certain types of crime," Shenkman said.
"If police arrive on a scene and a dog is going crazy in the back yard, they will say, 'Either you call that dog in or I'll shoot it.' They are not kidding -- being attacked by a dog is not a neutral event when seen from the other side. We would not allow a police officer to be attacked by a dog.
"By the same token," Shenkman added, "a police dog being used has got to viewed as a serious decision by police with serious potential consequences."
Cindy Swirko can be reached at 374-5024 or swirkoc@gainesvillesun.com
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