RACIST POLICE DOGS

A study found that 89 percent of the total bites recorded by LAPD and LASO between 2004 and 2012 involved black or Latino suspects; in the first six months of 2013, 100 percent of the 17 recorded bites affected those two groups

If you look at the stats, K-9 dogs are way more racist than white cops. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, now here you’ve got an issue you two charlatans can really sink your teeth into. Head to LA for some good ‘Stop Racist K-9s’ demonstrations.

As for LAPD’s ‘Find and Bark’ policy vs. LASO’s ‘Find and Bite/Hold’ policy, if it weren’t for the lawsuits that are filed by those who are bitten, I would prefer LASO’s bite/hold strategy over that of LAPD.

BARK VS. BITE: LOS ANGELES POLICE, SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT DIFFER WHEN IT COMES TO K-9 STRATEGIES
By Jason Henry

San Gabriel Valley Tribune
November 26, 2013

LOS ANGELES >> The two largest law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles County have polar opposite opinions when it comes to taking a bite out of crime. The difference in K-9 programs boils down to drawing blood versus baring teeth.

Depending on whether a K-9 officer deploys from the Los Angeles Police Department or the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, a suspect may have a higher chance of getting chomped.

The Sheriff’s Department’s dogs bit more than 10 percent more often last year than LAPD‘s K-9s, according to statistics obtained from the LAPD and the Police Assessment Resource Center (PARC). In 2012, LAPD had a 20.5 percent bite ratio — a statistic that weighs the number of bites against the number of suspects located — while LASD exceeded 30 percent. Both percentages factor in officer-ordered “directed bites,” which LASD typically leaves out of its numbers.

Despite having a lower bite ratio, LAPD employs nearly double the dogs — 24 compared with LASD’s 12.

The difference in bite percentages highlights two opposite approaches to handling. LAPD uses a tactic called “find and bark.” LASD’s tactic, which it officially refers to as “Handler Control With An Emphasis on Positive Alert,” is more commonly described as “find and bite.”

A “find and bite” dog searches for a suspect once released by their handler and then immediately attempts to subdue whoever it finds. The LAPD switched from “find and bite” in the early 1990s to reduce the risk of litigation, according to Sgt. Michael Goosby, LAPD’s chief trainer for the K-9 program.

“We went through a large amount of lawsuits,” he said. “It got to the point where we were getting ready to lose the unit.”

The LAPD’s bite ratio skyrocketed to 81 percent in 1990, according to a 1998 University of Southern California study by Alec Campbell, Richard Berk and James Fyfe. LASD’s bite ratio was around 36 percent based on data from 1991, according to that study.

The Los Angeles Police Department averaged 45 to 55 percent in the early 1990s, Goosby said. That percentage dropped to 15 to 25 after “find and bark” became the norm, he said.

“It forced us to change our game,” Goosby said.

LASD’s bite ratio has fluctuated in recent years. It was less than 10 percent in 1998, but has stayed at roughly 30 percent for the last several years, according to data released by PARC.

Both departments deploy K-9s under specific conditions, usually when a suspect is believed holed up or armed and hidden. K-9s typically reduce the risk of harm for their human colleagues by detecting suspects who may otherwise get the drop on officers. Goosby noted that both departments use similar procedures, except for the difference of the dog’s end goal: the bite versus the bark.

A recent joint-training exercise by LAPD and LASD came a few weeks after a scathing report by PARC called on the Sheriff’s Department to improve its K-9 program. The report by PARC Special Counsel Merrick Bobb determined that LASD’s handlers more readily use dog bites when K-9s are deployed instead of using less damaging types of force.

“Used properly, this tool can greatly enhance the efficiency of resolving the crisis, prevent deputy-involved shootings and improve officer safety,” the report states. “Used incorrectly, and a dog bite can easily become a significant misuse of force that results in serious injury to a suspect or innocent bystander and significant legal exposure for the County.”

LASD has paid out $1.1 million in settlements for cases involving accidental dog bites since 2009, according to PARC. Both departments use warnings — played by loud speaker — before sending their dogs, but those warnings are not always heard. In one 2010 case, a man living in a shed slept through the announcements and was bitten when a K-9 came upon him, resulting in a $225,000 payout by the county, according to PARC.

Goosby used a recent example of a LAPD K-9 coming across a female bystander to illustrate how “find and bite” helps avoid such incidents.

“(The K-9) goes in the closet and she’s there, and boom, bark, bark, bark right in her face,” Goosby said. “Had he gone in there and taken her out, we’d have a liability on our hands.”

Bobb’s study found roughly half of the K-9 bites it reviewed may have been avoidable. In instances where a suspect hid in a small enclosed space, LASD handlers tended to open the door and send in a dog rather than negotiating or tossing in tear gas or a flash bang (device), according to PARC.

“If officers could open the door safely to send in the dog, they just as safely and easily could have used tear gas or other less risky, and less potentially damaging force,” the report states.

LASD’s K-9s are trained to “bite and hold” discovered suspects until ordered to stop by their handler. Most LASD handlers commanded their canines to release in less than 10 seconds, though some bites lasted as long as 20 to 40 seconds, according to PARC’s review of handler reports. A suspect may get ordered out with the dog still attached, causing even more damage.

“In one study, for example, researchers found that canine bites resulted in hospital visits 67.5 percent of the time, while other uses of force, like batons or Tasers, resulted in hospital visits 22 percent of the time or less,” PARC’s report states. “They opined that canine bites should be considered a level of force immediately below deadly force and equated a bite to an officer swinging a baton with three-centimeter spikes attached.”

A “find and bark” dog is more likely to pinpoint a suspect’s location, compared with a “find and bite” dog, which might circle repeatedly looking for a way in, making it unclear where exactly an officer should focus, according to Goosby.

“He is trying to find a way into the trunk, because his end game is biting,” Goosby said.
A “find and bark dog” will still attack someone who makes sudden movements, but it does also have a higher risk of getting hurt because it gives a suspect, particularly with a weapon, a small window to attack.

PARC’s study found that 89 percent of the total bites recorded between 2004 and 2012 involved black or Latino suspects. In the first six months of 2013, 100 percent of the 17 recorded bites affected those two groups.

“The police operate within a society that continues to produce often unequal and unfair results. That does not, however, absolve the police of responsibility to deal with those consequences,” the report states.

The five Sheriff’s Department stations in Century, Lennox, Compton, Lakewood and Industry had more bites between 2004 and 2013 than all of the other 21 stations combined, according to PARC.

Those areas have higher amounts of bites and deployments because they have more crime, according to sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore. Goosby agreed that the numbers for each station did not seem out of the ordinary.

PARC agreed with the higher crime rates, but remained concerned about the trend shown by the data.

“The stark disparity leads us to wonder why canine deployments seem to occur disproportionately in less affluent areas with larger minority populations,” the report states.

The five stations with the lowest bites — La Crescenta, Altadena, Marina Del Rey, West Hollywood and Malibu — made up only 2 percent of the total. La Crescenta did not have any bites in the past nine years.

Even if some areas have higher crime rates, the topic requires a thorough investigation, according Peter Eliasberg, legal director for ACLU of Southern California.

“Any time you see these kind of disproportionate results, I think that should be cause for concern,” Eliasberg said. “I think we as a society should be concerned that we have policies that have these results, even if they are not necessarily driven by a segregation mindset.”

Those areas, while they have more crime, should not produce such high numbers, he said.

“There are plenty of white suspects that are thought to be armed or thought to have committed a crime,” Eliasberg said of the idea that the best explanation is high crime. “The numbers seem to be so disproportionate in the same way the ‘stop and frisk’ numbers have been so disproportionate in New York and L.A. I don’t find that to be a persuasive argument.”

To help reduce bites across the board, PARC recommended LASD implement more thorough reports on dog bites by tracking the injuries suffered and by requiring handlers to document why they used a dog over another form of force. It also suggested hiring an additional sergeant — the unit only has three — to help reduce misuse. The oversight group further suggests the Sheriff’s Department consider a moratorium on the use of canines in all but the most “critical circumstances involving armed suspects” until practices are developed to “curb the disproportionate impact” on minorities.

Whitmore said LASD brass plans to analyze the report to see if improvements are needed, but in the month since the report was released there have been no changes.

“It was indicated the Department didn’t change their policy on K-9 deployment,” Whitmore wrote in an email. “They did a joint training with LAPD recently and the tactics are only slightly different.

“All the K-9s (both LAPD and LASD) are traditionally trained to alert, however LASD then takes it a step further and trains/integrates the dogs into the entry SWAT teams,” he said.

Though “find and bark” was mandated to LAPD, Goosby stressed he’d fight against any attempt to switch back.

“It made us get better at what we do,” he said.