LAPD Begins Warnings on Use of Dogs : Police: Policy is intended to encourage surrenders and reduce bites. Animals are being retrained to bark first.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s controversial K-9 unit has begun making announcements at search scenes, warning hidden suspects that dogs will be used if they do not surrender, according to a report released Tuesday.

The report submitted to the Police Commission also said that by the end of the year the unit will complete retraining of its 16 dogs to follow procedures in which they bark rather than bite when suspects are located during searches. Currently, about five of the dogs are trained to conduct searches with the “barked alert” method.

The report, submitted by the staff of Chief Willie L. Williams, was in response to 10 recommendations for changing K-9 procedures made by the commission after an eight-month study this year. The study was prompted by allegations that police dogs have mauled hundreds of people, mainly minorities. Civil rights activists have filed a class-action suit against the department over the K-9 unit’s procedures.

A note from Williams to commissioners said the department “has embarked upon an aggressive program to implement the recommendations in a timely manner.”

At a commission meeting Tuesday, discussion of the chief’s report was put off until commissioners had a chance to review it.

“We are taking this as a top priority,” Capt. David. J. Gascon told commissioners. Gascon is commander of the Metro Division, which includes the 17-officer K-9 unit.

“We are in compliance with some already,” Gascon said of the recommendations. “And we are making adjustments to be in compliance with the others.”

Included in the commission report was a copy of an order Gascon issued Thursday requiring K-9 officers to announce a warning before a search dog is deployed. If the suspect is believed to be a Spanish speaker, the warning must be issued in Spanish, the order said.

“If you surrender now, the dog will not be used,” the announcement reads in part. “You have one minute to surrender.”

Additionally, the commission report states that the department is developing a new bite investigation format and a review that will be similar to that used when officers are involved in shootings.