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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Law enforcement officers in California could lose an invaluable resource — the patrol K9 — under a new bill being considered by state lawmakers that would prohibit the use of police service dogs (PSDs) for the apprehension of dangerous criminals.
One of the author’s of the bill said the K9s would not be allowed to be in a position to bite someone since the tactic is a “deeply racialized and harmful practice,” Fox News Digital reported.
Assemblymembers Corey Jackson and Ash Kalra, both Democrats, said during a Monday news conference that AB 742 could help end a practice with a troubling history involving black communities and PSDs.
According to the text of the bill, law enforcement personnel would be prohibited from using police K9s in apprehensions, arrests and crowd control.
“The use of police canines has inflicted brutal violence and lifelong trauma on black Americans and communities of color,” Jackson said in a statement. “This bill marks a turning point in the fight to end this cruel and inhumane practice and build trust between the police and the communities they serve.”
The bill would not prohibit PSDs used to detect explosives, narcotics, or other activities that don’t involve biting.
Kalra said the use of police K9s is “rooted in slavery,” during the press conference announcing the proposed legislation.
Bob Eden, a retired K9 handler in Canada who trains and consults with law enforcement agencies throughout North America could not disagree more, KTVU reported.
“To me, it’s a knee-jerk reaction,” Eden said. “A lot of times we’re dealing with violent people that won’t submit otherwise or wouldn’t be captured otherwise.”
Furthermore, the K9 trainer said PSDs often de-escalate situations before they are ever deployed and that “the number of dogs that are on the street reduce the number of assaults on officers and the number of officer involved shootings, which ultimately would also probably save the life of a number of suspects that otherwise would have been on the receiving end of gunfire.”
Jim McNeff, a retired police lieutenant from an agency in California who managed his department’s K9 program for several years said, “This is a con by liberal politicians who’ve never been tasked with arresting violent people.”
“Police service dogs negate more hostile conflict than you can imagine. I’ve seen many criminals surrender simply because the K9 is barking nearby,” McNeff said. “They’d rather stare down the barrel of a firearm than risk being taken into custody by a dog. The fools getting apprehended by K9s are the suspect’s rolling the dice hoping they don’t get detected. It’s not like PSDs are released without warning. Quite the contrary! Per department policy the warnings are constant. A suspect is essentially inviting the K9 to bite them if they fail to surrender.”
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