pLEASE PROVIDE A FEEDBACK REVIEW

Week 14: Assignment - Peer Review If police canines are used to track a fleeing felon suspect, should they be certified in detention and apprehension? When a K9 is called in to track a felony suspect they may not know if the suspect is armed or not. The K9 should be allowed to defend themselves and the handler using the least amount of force necessary. If a K9 is used to track a felony suspect the K9 should be patrol (apprehension, detention and officer protection) certified. Police K9 teams have come under much scrutiny as of late. Issues that have come up have been popularized in the media, putting them front and center in many areas around the county. One article even has a study doing a survey of photos of just a police officer's and then of a K9 team. The study showed that people had a general dislike of the photos of the K9 teams over the officers without K9's in the photos (Gaub, Sandrin, & Simpson, 2023). Many feel that the use of a K9 is excessive force and bite when it is unnecessary to complete the arrest. Most would believe a canine that is trained to "bark and hold" as opposed to "bite and hold" will have fewer injuries. Studies have shown that is just not the case. Police canines trained and certified to "bark and hold" have more bites than those "bite and hold". In fact K9's certified to "bark and hold" not only have more unwanted or needed bites but have more severe injuries. This is why in training "bark and hold" dogs are muzzled to reduce the risk of injuries to those present. With "bite and hold" the opposite is true and the dogs are not muzzled as this would not allow them to complete their training or receive their "reward" which is the bite at the end of the track as well as their praise from their partner. This study leads to show that "bite and hold" would hold less liability and have lower likelihood of lawsuits of "bark and hold" certified K9's. Police canines are a crime deterrent, de-escalation tool, and can be an alternative to lethal use of force situations. Case law has determined canine use of force to be "non-lethal use of force" (Gatlin, 2024). Police canines as a use of force are below the use of a Taser or pepper sprays. They are looked at as a restraint when compared with other use of force options making them the same as handcuffs or restraint hold. K9's are a tool that with proper training, certification, policy and oversight can be used as a less lethal option when without the police canine lethal force would be the only option. The police k9 team who are patrol certified are an excellent tool in addition to current police forces adding a less lethal option to situations that arise. There is a long history of police canines use in agencies all around the world with few issues and many positive conclusions to situations. There needs to be policy and training in place to cover the use and certification of the K9 team causing a reduction of liability and misuse.