LOS ANGELES : Police Commission OKs Changes in Use of K-9 Units
The Los Angeles Police Commission approved changes Tuesday in the use of K-9 units as part of the settlement of a 1991 class-action lawsuit involving 55 people injured by police dogs. The revisions in the Los Angeles Police Department’s K-9 manual clarify circumstances under which officers can bring in a dog and when a handler can command the animal to bite.
The manual also reflects a change in training procedures for dogs to bark a warning before approaching a suspect. The revised procedures also formalize changes in investigations of biting incidents.
In addition, officers using dogs are now required to issue warnings in Spanish. The manual suggests formats for those warnings.
In 1991, the American Civil Liberties Union, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and two private law firms filed a suit charging that the use of police dogs amounted to excessive force.
Four of the plaintiffs were bitten mistakenly. In one case, a dog attacked an elderly woman when she came out of her house wielding a cane while police were searching her yard for a suspect.
Earlier this month, the City Council approved a $2.6-million payment as partial settlement in that case, agreeing to make a second payment for $1 million in August.
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