Repression and Police Dog Abuse - Archive of articles from 2002

• Click here for latest police dog abuse archives...

• With Dog Detectives, Mistakes Can Happen (Dec. 24, 2002 / New York Times) This article gives a broad overview of the shortcomings of current standards used in the training and handling of sniffer dogs. The article reveals how there is much more room for uncertainty in making positive identifications than is commonly assumed, particularly when dubious methodology and training are employed.

• K-9 dog-bite incident prompts Somerset investigation (Dec. 5, 2002 / New Richmond News) "The Somerset Police Department has suspended its K-9 program after its police dog bit an unidentified man..."

• Phoenix police end officers' clout to negotiate claims (Dec. 3, 2004 / Arizona Republic) Phoenix Police Department's 'Incident Review Unit' was tasked with sending police officers out to settle with victims of police abuse and reduce or eliminate media exposure ('damage-control' missions). One dog bite case is cited: "...In July 1999, an unleashed German shepherd police dog running alongside its trainer attacked Susan Thomas while she was riding a bicycle at the Deer Valley airport.... the unit built a rapport with the victim, expediting the claim process... 'As a result, the department received NO media exposure regarding the incident,'...."

• Police Dog Placed On Administrative Leave (Nov. 25, 2002 / AP) "A police dog in Montague is on administrative leave after biting a women five times.... " The dog attacked the 41-year-old woman as she sat in her car with her daughter after pulling into the driveway of their home. The victim has said that she was bitten in the hand, both forearms and breast, and, over two months later, still bears the scars. Follow-up: Police dog fired after off-duty bite (Jan. 29, 2003 / AP); Neighborhood attack puts police dog on trading block (Jan. 29, 2003 / Union News) - Handler Sgt. John Dempsey is quoted as saying: "My main goal is to save the canine program." No mention is made of any apologies or restitution offered to the victim. Meanwhile, even as the Montague police department plans to replace Booker with another patrol dog, Sgt. Dempsey suggested that Booker may nevertheless be employed by other police departments interested in Booker because of his "patrol successes".

• K-9 deaths spur IPD to rethink policies (Nov. 21, 2002 / Indianapolis Star) A very short item which is nevertheless revealing. In spite of what the police tell us about the effectiveness of K9 training, when they risk being attacked, they will often opt to shoot the dog rather than take their chances. "[B]ecause police often see firsthand the dogs' effectiveness at snaring fleeing suspects, many have a real fear of the animals' ferocity." See also: K-9 Shot and Killed After It Bites Officer (Oct. 29, 2002 / Backup News), and also the Sept. 13 AP item just below.

• Officer Sued Over Use of Dog (Nov. 1, 2002 / Albuquerque Journal) "Albuquerque police officer [Andrew Lehocky] is on trial a third time on accusations that he used excessive force when he unleashed his police dog — this time on a 16-year-old girl...." See also: City May Pay $450,000 for Police Dog Bite (Nov. 7, 2002 / Albuquerque Journal)

• Israeli Police Resume Dog Patrols (November 1, 2002 / AP) Nazi SS dogs patrolling Sachsenhausen concentration camp"...Israel's Channel One television on Friday showed troopers from the paramilitary border police lying in ambush in camouflaged ponchos — with muzzled dogs at their side....To some Israelis, the use of attack dogs brings uncomfortable images of snarling German Shepherds used by Nazi troops in World War II as they rounded up Jews...." (Holocaust literature contains many accounts of vicious attack dogs being used by the Nazis to search for, to terrorize, to brutalize, and even to kill Jews).

• Police dog attacks footballers (Oct. 28, 2002 / BBC) "...Three players were bitten after a police dog ran on to a football pitch during an amateur game. The German Shepherd fled from his trainer during an exercise at a disused building close to the pitch.... Lincoln Moorlands manager Martin Burnett said: 'There were two children's games on the next field and I dread to think what could have happened if the dog had gone on there instead....' "

• $3 Million Verdict in Attack by Police Dog (October 10, 2002 / Washington Post) "A Prince George's civil jury yesterday awarded more than $3 million to two admitted burglars who testified that a police canine officer released her dog on them after they had surrendered and been handcuffed...."

• Police Dog Bite Case Goes to Jury (October 2, 2002 / Albuquerque Journal); Jurors side with officer in lawsuit over K-9 attack in Albuquerque (October 3, 2002 / AP) "...Marlo Marquez, 22, said she was injured after officer Andrew Lehocky ordered a police dog to catch her when she got out of a car during a police chase on Aug. 10, 1999. She was seeking $250,000 in compensatory damages and unspecified punitive damages...."

• Officer, bitten by police dog, files claim for damages against Yakima (September 13, 2002 / AP) This article focusses on a lesser-known aspect of this issue: police dog attacks on other (non- K9 handler) police. This is a phenomenon which appears to be fairly common (see the Dec. 29 Washington Post report below). Excerpt: "...The bite so damaged a major muscle in [Officer Jim] Castillo's right forearm that the muscle had to be surgically removed. Castillo has not yet returned to work...."

• Amnesty International's most recent report on Prince George County police abuse which includes a section on dog-bite cases: Amnesty International's Concerns on Police Abuse in Prince George's County, Maryland (August 29, 2002 / Amnesty International)
  "...lawsuits have been filed in at least four cases alleging that county police officers released their dogs onto unresisting suspects between September 2000 and December 2001.... In August 2002 two police officers charged with assaulting Hector Millan, a burglary suspect, with a baton and police dog in January 2002 were acquitted of all charges by a county judge, after waiving their right to a jury trial. One of the officers acquitted in this case is also accused in a pending civil lawsuit of allowing his dog to attack a naked man sleeping in an abandoned building in November 2000. Meanwhile, the police chief has said he would again review the department's canine policies...."

  For more on the Millan case: Police cleared of felonies in confrontation - Officers still face charges (August 1, 2002 / Fairfax Journal) Of particular note: "... Offering no explanation, [Judge] Shepherd rejected [Edward J.] Dobbertin as an expert witness...." Also see: Officer Testifies Canine Officer Released Dog That Attacked Suspect (July 31, 2002 / AP); and Two county police officers acquitted (August 2, 2002 / Fairfax Journal)

• Trial Starts Over APD Use of Force (August 14, 2002 / Albuquerque Journal) - "Did Albuquerque police go too far when they ordered a police dog named Bart to attack Army veteran Jimmy Castillo and then shocked him with a Taser gun during a four-hour SWAT standoff in April 2000?... 'I saw nothing in the record that would warrant the use of a dog in any way, shape or form,' [George] Kirkham [police procedure expert] testified Tuesday. 'And then when someone is struggling with a dog, to shoot them with an air Taser on top of that ... I've never heard of anyone doing anything like it.' " Bart and police officer win excessive force lawsuit (August 20, 2002 / AP) "...The lawsuit alleged [Officer Andrew Lehocky] released the dog and zapped Castillo with an Air Taser as he stood in his front yard, unarmed and ready to talk to his pastor. Castillo, who was never charged with a crime, sought unspecified damages."

• Police dog mauls Abby teen (July 30, 2002 / Abbotsford Times) "A 15-year-old Abbotsford boy is nursing wounds today that were inflicted by an Abbotsford police dog...."

• Lawsuit claims mauling by police dog (July 12, 2002 / Fairfax Journal) "...An Alexandria police officer let his dog maul a 27-year-old city man without provocation, according to a lawsuit filed against the officer and the city.... [Officer Todd Branson] allegedly watched the dog as it continued to bite Paz. He then placed handcuffs on him as the dog bit him, all while Paz was lying with his face to the ground.... Paz did not have a weapon, resist arrest, assault or threaten Branson, and was not a threat to the safety of himself or others, according to the suit. Paz spent 10 days in the hospital and underwent surgery on his leg, his attorneys said. "

• Report of police dog attack on innocent man in Galt (Real Video) (July 6, 2002 / News10) "Carlos, bleeding severly from his dogbite, was handcuffed and taken to the station as his three young children watched...." Says Galt Police Sgt. Joe Blair: "There's nothing that occured last night that was out of policy..."

• Police Dog Accused of Racial Profiling (June 11, 2002 / Fox News).

  "...while K-9 officer Schawn Barger wrestled with a drug suspect, he said a quick-release button on his belt was activated, accidentally opening a door to the K-9 wagon. The dog lunged from the vehicle and bit a 9-year-old boy on the leg instead of the suspect, dragging him for about 20 feet, family members said. The boy is black. Councilwoman [Wanda Jones] Dixon told the city council she has received six complaints about Dolpho in the past year. Three of the people who complained were involved with drugs. Three others were blacks who believe the dog jumped at or attacked them because of their race." Dixon recommended that the dog be put to sleep.

  For another account of the incident, see: Police dog attacks Black child during pursuit of white suspect (June 14, 2002 / One People's Project).

  Ultimately the police responsible for the dog and the dog itself, "Dolpho", were let off the hook: Investigation Clears Police Dog Of Racial Profiling (August 14, 2002 / Pittsburgh Channel) - "Barger said the dog had never bitten the wrong person before, but he said it was confused by all the movement in the area." This illustrates well the way police dogs serve as a responsibility buffer for police abuse. Vicious acts by dogs can be construed as being the result of 'confusion' on the part of a dog in a chaotic situation, thereby distancing human police officers from accountability.

  In a disturbing footnote to this incident, the image of the dog in question, "Dolpho" (cf. 'Adolf'), was adopted as a mascot by a racist, neo-nazi group (see: Dolpho: Man's best friend).

  Follow-up reports: Racial Profiling Goes to the Dogs (August 20, 2002 / Africana.com); Alleged 'Racist Dog' Back On Patrol (April 25, 2003 / WTAE, Pittsburgh)

• Would-be police dog kills boy, 4 (June 3, 2002 / Omaha World Herald) - "A police dog in the final stages of training mauled to death a 4-year-old boy ...." The dog was due to be delivered to the Lincoln Police Department on the following day.

• Police-Dog Bitings Cost City More Than $940,000 (May 26, 2002 / AP) "Police dogs have taken a $725,000 bite out of [Albuquerque] city coffers from payouts to victims of K-9 attacks, and it could rise to $942,000 if defense lawyers get the amount they’ve billed.... [APD Officer Andrew Lehocky], by his own personal records, recorded 128 dog bites in his career, a city document shows...."

• City to pay $150,000 in dog biting settlement (April 20, 2002 / Claremont Courier)

• Jury set to ponder use of police dogs: A lawsuit challenges the city's policy allowing canines to bite a suspect whom officers can't see (April 12, 2002 / Sacramento Bee) "....Pratt was asleep about 11:15 p.m. May 17, 1999, and the officers were outside announcing their presence. Thus, under the policy, Pratt was concealed. Officer Michael Garner kicked the front door off its hinges and released Luke, his German shepherd into the home.... Photographs later taken at Mercy General Hospital by the department's crime scene investigators show Pratt's leg was badly mangled between the knee and ankle...."

• Police dog bites off ear lobe (April 8, 2002 / BBC) "A 14-year-old boy from Brighton is recovering in hospital after a police dog bit off part of his ear. The teenager had to undergo a six-hour operation to re-attach the lobe of his right ear, bitten off after a fight in Morley Street on Saturday morning...."; Follow-up: Police dog which attacked teenager being put down (April 10, 2002 / Ananova)

• Police Dog Severs Suspect's Penis (April 8, 2002 / Local 6 TV, Florida) - a similar report from Melbourne suggests that bite-dogs have a particular relish for the groin area...

• Officers indicted after homeless man complained they unnecessarily beat him (March 26, 2002 / AP). Follow-up reports: Conflicting Testimony In Md. Police Dog Case (July 29, 2002 / Washington Post); Officer Says Dog Was Released on Suspect Twice (July 30, 2002 / Washington Post); Judge Tosses Felony Charges In Police Dog Attack Case (August 1, 2002)

• Amnesty International's concerns regarding post September 11 detentions in the USA (March 14, 2002 / Amnesty International) "...Amnesty International also heard repeated complaints that dogs were at one time used to intimidate and threaten detainees at Passaic jail. The jail has a canine (K-9) unit with six dog pens, which AI observed during its tour of the jail in February. The jail authorities stressed that the dogs were used only for ''narcotics patrol'' and were not used to intimidate inmates. However, the case cited above suggests that dogs had been brought into the dormitories of INS detainees (who were not held for drugs or any criminal offences); one detainee told AI that dogs had been deliberately brought up close to detainees who were nervous of them...." Follow-up:
  • Protesters demand release of jailed immigrants (June 3, 2002 / The Militant) "...Prison authorities have begun using dogs to move detainees through the prison [Passaic County Jail]. A former prisoner, Orel Bobb, said he witnessed one of these dogs attacking a detainee...."
    
  • Immigrant Detention: Action Alert (March 19, 2003) "...The Campaign to Stop the Disappearances is calling for all concerned individuals to call or fax Warden Charles Meyers at Passaic County jail and the District Director to demand the following things: an end to the abuse and an immediate halt to the use of dogs in the jail, improvement to the food and for the transferring of the eight hunger strikers to Hudson County Jail...."
    
  • Immigrant Detention: Action Alert (April 29, 2003) "...In response to pressure, the use of the dogs has ended, and beatings have ceased in one cell block, but abuse continues. On April 28, 2003 Mohabir Hemnauth A#44267779 went on hunger strike in response to worsening food...."

• Vicious Police Dogs: Allegations of a K-9 Unit Run Amok (March 6, 2002 / ABC) Well-documented article on police dog abuse in Prince George County.

• Givin' a Dog the Bone (January 2002 / Denver Voice) on August 30, 2000, Howard Bruce Delano, a homeless man on the streets of Denver, was asleep under a bush in the fifteen hundred block of Gilpin Street. A short distance away, police were giving chase to a suspect who had thrown away a handgun and taken flight. In the process of pursuing the suspect, an officer with the K-9 unit, Jeffery Meyer, allowed his service dog to search under the bush where Bruce was spending the night. Being abruptly awakened by the animal, and unaware that it was a police service animal, Bruce's first reaction was to try to push the dog away. Sadly, it was the wrong reaction. Basco, the police dog, decided to use Bruce as a chew toy.... The injuries Bruce received included bites on the shoulder and face. The facial lacerations required reconstructive surgery involving a graft utilizing cartilage taken from his ear. Even after surgery, and six days in the hospital, he will bear scars on his nose for the rest of his life. Bruce was never charged with any crime stemming from the incident..."

• Woman Attacked By Police Dog (January 10, 2002 / KiwiNews) "The woman was apparently visiting a friend, when she saw a man run through the property. She called out to him, attracting the attention of the Police dog chasing the man. The dog then attacked her, leaving her with serious injuries to her legs, which she has already had two lots of surgery on to repair the damage done to her ligaments and skin. The woman is still in Tauranga Hosiptal...."

• Police dog attack (Jan. 4, 2002 / South Okanagan-Similkameen) "...An RCMP dog attacked a Penticton newspaper reporter. Joyce Langerak was taking pictures of officer Cy Kelly and his dog when the attack happened. Langerak was taken to hospital where about a dozen stitches were needed in her inner thigh to close the puncture wounds from the dog bite.... Officers say this is not the first time the dog has bitten an innocent bystander...."; Bad member booted (March 13, 2002 / South Okanagan-Similkameen) "A police dog that sunk its teeth into a Penticton newspaper reporter has been exiled out of the country...."

• Click here for police dog abuse archives from 2001 and earlier

Links to additional reports which people wish to suggest for inclusion in this archive can be sent to Eric Squire at: g8alert@yahoo.com

Back to Repression and Police Dog Abuse - Home