Tiffany Crowford (Vancouver Sun) – Police dogs have caused a high number of injuries to children in B.C. and should no longer be used to apprehend youth, Pivot Legal Society is urging.
On Wednesday, Pivot, along with Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, Carrier Sekani Family Services and the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs called on the RCMP and municipal forces to change the practice of tracking kids with police dogs as new details emerge about a 12-year-old girl who was bitten in Prince George.
Pivot has sent a letter to Ron Field, the provincial director of the RCMP police dog service, calling for several changes to police policies.
Under the proposed changes, police would avoid using police dogs whenever youth are suspects, unless they present a clear threat of death or grievous bodily harm to themselves or others.
Police dog bites account for almost half of physical injuries caused by municipal police forces in B.C., and 10 per cent of those are to youth under 18, according to data from the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
The youngest victim on record was a 12 year-old boy in Vancouver.
Although that data does not include the RCMP, there have been reported cases involving RCMP dogs and children.
In January, parents of a minor in Surrey alleged an RCMP police dog bit their son in the face after he was suspected of stealing an energy drink.
The youth sustained a broken nose and permanent scarring.
“There is tearing, it’s extremely painful and then there’s scarring and the trauma attached to that,” said Douglas King, a lawyer with Pivot Legal Society.
“Putting these kids at a social disadvantage doesn’t seem good for anyone in society.”
In the most recent case, a 12-year-old girl in Prince George sustained multiple wounds to her leg after the family alleges a police dog bit her as she tried to run from an altercation with other youth that involved bear spray.
The family alleges that police took her to the hospital where she was treated with 20 stitches, then held her for hours in an adult jail cell before notifying her parents around 2 a.m.
New Westminster police are conducting an independent external investigation into that incident.
“[Police] should be making efforts to identify whether the suspect is a youth,” King said. “In this case it’s believed that police knew the girl so if she got away, there’s nothing to suggest they couldn’t have caught up with her at another time.”
RCMP classify police dogs as an “intermediate weapon” and do not take the suspect’s age into account when determining whether to use a police dog.
Most police dogs in British Columbia are trained in the “bite and hold” method, where a dog is instructed to bite a suspect upon apprehension.
Not all jurisdictions use that method. New Westminster uses a minimum force approach, for example, training the dog to corner the suspect and bark.
The data show that since 2009, New Westminster has only had one reported incident of police dog injuries, compared with nearly 150 in Vancouver.
Rollie Woods, deputy police complaint commissioner, said municipal police are allowed to use force, including a dog, when someone committing an arrestable crime is trying to escape. Although he said he understands that police are more careful when dealing with young people.
Any review into a department’s use of police dogs would have to be ordered by an individual police board, Woods said.
Pivot’s King said he has received dozens of calls over the last two years from parents who say their kids have been injured by police dogs.
In one instance just over a year ago, said King, a youth in Squamish was allegedly bitten by a service dog after covering a police car in silly string with two other minors.
In another case, an RCMP dog allegedly bit an 18-year-old on the Sunshine Coast about two years ago. The injuries to his arm were so severe he had to be airlifted to hospital, King said.
King added he will be contacting the director of police services by the end of the year to ask the province for an inquiry into police dog incidents and children.
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RCMP urged to stop using dogs to catch kids
Vivian Luk
The Canadian Press
August 1, 2012
An independent police investigation has been launched into allegations that a police dog bit a 12-year-old Prince George girl, leaving her with extensive wounds to her leg.
Watchdog groups says the incident in May was not the first time service dogs have been used on teens and children, and they’re urging RCMP to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
The Pivot Legal Society, the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, and the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, along with the girl’s family, have sent a letter to the provincial director of the RCMP police dog service, calling on the force to avoid using police dogs unless the youth “presents a clear threat of death or grievous bodily harm to themselves or others.”
The girl’s mother said in a telephone interview Wednesday that her daughter had fled the scene of a fight after macing two other kids in self-defence. When the police found the girl, her mother said she shouted out that she was only 12 years old, yet the RCMP handler still released the dog.
The child’s mother, who did not want her name published, maintains that the Mountie knew the girl’s age.
“I was told, from what my daughter said, that her name was brought up because other people (at the scene) knew her name,” the mother said. “I believe that the RCMP knew who they were looking for, and that she was only 12.”
She said her daughter was hiding in a nearby building when the police dog and handler eventually found her.
“She was hiding in a box and when she saw the police dog, she tried yelling out that she’s only 12 years old before they let the dog loose on her,” the mother said.
She said the dog jumped onto the box and bit her daughter’s left leg after she fell out.
She also alleged that after the police took her daughter to the hospital to be treated for her bite wounds, they kept her in a jail cell until early next morning.
The family lodged a complaint with the RCMP and the New Westminster Police are investigating the incident. Sgt. Diana McDaniel of the New Westminster Police said she cannot confirm the family’s allegations because the investigation is ongoing.
The groups calling for a policy change said a Surrey youth was also bitten in the face earlier this year after allegedly stealing an energy drink, and a 12-year-old in Vancouver was bitten by a police dog.
The RCMP said in a statement released last month that officers responded to a call in May about an alleged attack on two people who had been blasted with bear spray at a Prince George carnival.
A police dog and handler tracked a suspect to a locked compound where a can of bear spray was found and where the dog bit the suspect on the leg, the statement said. It noted the suspect turned out to be a 12-year-old girl.
B.C. RCMP said in most cases where police dogs are employed, the age and identity of the suspect is unknown.
“Expecting police to know the age of fleeing suspects shows a lack of understanding of policing, as does any belief that young people can’t be dangerous or pose a threat,” Sgt. Rob Vermeulen in an email response to questions.
“Where it IS known that the offender is a young person, and the offence/threat is minor in nature, RCMP handlers in the province have been advised not to pursue.”
Vermeulen added that the level and type of force used on a suspect depends on the suspect’s behaviour.
“Service dogs do not ‘decide’ if they are going to bite a person,” he wrote. “They react to situations or scenarios that are taught to them starting when they are a puppy and reinforced throughout their training and operational service.”
The girl’s mother said her daughter suffered bruises and scratches from the incident, and received 20 stitches for her bite wounds.
“She couldn’t move for about a week or two, so she was a little bit depressed about it,” she said.
“It’s still kind of hard to talk about it right now because she’s obviously going to have these scars for the rest of her life.”
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