Province considering rules that could leash police dogs

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A local legal advocacy group says the province is considering rules that could leash police dogs.

The Pivot Legal Society says Public Safety Minister Shirley Bond and Director of Police Services Clayton Pecknold confirm a working group has been formed to draft policy to regulate police dog use.

According to Pivot, the working group is in response to statistics compiled by the society, showing police dogs account for nearly half of all injuries caused by municipal police across the province.

Pivot lawyer Douglas King says someone in BC is bitten by a police dog, on average, once every two days.

Vancouver Police Sergeant Randy Fincham says there are two different ways in how handlers manage their police dogs.  There is the bite-and-hold technique and the bark-and-hold technique.

“Experts have different opinions whether one technique would reduce injuries to a person above the other one.  And what we found with the Vancouver Police Department that training dogs in the bite-and-hold technique allows handlers the ability to control the actions of the dog.  So, if the officer is dealing with an aggressive person [then] the handler is the one who decides whether the dog is going to respond in an aggressive manner.”

King is hoping the group hears from medical experts and victims, as well as police forces as it considers possible provincial standards for safe use of service dogs.

Pivot says it’s not yet known when the working group will convene.

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