Solano County Grand Jury
• 2023-2024
Solano County Canine Officer Training, Handling & End of Career Policies
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 6 findings
F1
– On-going in-service training with canines and canine handlers is currently taking place, but not consistent across all agencies throughout the County. Canine pre-deployment training has generally been through a third party outside of the law enforcement agency. In the past, pre-deployment training practices had been a harsh environment for the canine. Occasionally severe discipline was used to train the canine causing the canine a high level of stress during and after the training period.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
– Use an outside agency for pre-deployment training only if the training facility and trainers are adhering to Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) training practices with positive reinforcement. For on-going in-service training, continue monthly training of the canine team through positive reinforcement. Train for a minimum of 16 hours a month, or 192 hours annually on current skills and new techniques. Elements of the training techniques should be made available to the public.
F2
– While there is a retirement plan for the Patrol Officers, there is no standard Canine Officers retirement plan available. This leaves the canine handler to cover all medical costs which may include injuries that occurred while in service.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
– Provide all retired Canine Officers with medical insurance coverage at time of retirement, similar to that of the Patrol Officers. Medical coverage must cover both the scheduled routine medical issues and emergency medical services if ever needed. A meal allowance must also be in place for all retired Canine Officers. Create a standardized procedure in place for handling of retired Canine Officers until end of life. In the placement of a retiring Canine Officer the current handler should be given first choice. In the event that they cannot take on that role, there needs to be a process in place for continued care.
F3
– Not all law enforcement agencies within the county have Canine Officers. The law enforcement agencies that do, see multiple benefits of having the Canine Officers on staff. In some cases, an increase in non-confrontational apprehensions is as much as ten times over those of a non-Canine Team.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
– Increase Canine Officer staffing throughout the County. All law enforcement agencies should have at least one Canine Officer per shift. For the larger agencies, more Canine Officers may be needed to cover all needed situations and areas. Canine Officer/population ratio should be at least one Canine Officer per 15,000 population.
F4
– There are only a few Peer Support Canines available to assist in emotional and behavioral support within a few agencies. Peer Support Canines play an important role in monitoring and recognizing the emotional and behavioral needs within high stress events and are able to soothe and support through their calming and caring personalities.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
– Increase Peer Support Canine staffing. All law enforcement agencies need to have at least one Peer Support Canine per shift.
F5
– Canine activity and incident tracking throughout the county differs between agencies. Although being tracked, the agencies have adopted their own manner of tracking and documenting. This allows the media to exploit only the rare aggressive activities with little exposure to the positive side of the Canine Officer’s contribution.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
– Activity and incident tracking within the county for Canine Teams need to be consistent. Have Canine Team activity reports readily available to the public.
F6
– Canine Officers no longer engage in crowd control, as having canines in large crowds over stressed the Canine Officer, causing confusion.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
– Continue using the Canine Officers only in patrol, detection and search and rescue. COMMENTS Solano County’s Civil Grand Jury investigation on canine activity and duties contradicted much of what the media is presenting. Canine training has been updated from past years to a positive reinforcement training curriculum with improved results. Apprehensions are much higher with a canine team than without. Data shows as much as ten times more apprehensions with a Canine Team than without. In many cases, the Canine Officer was never deployed, but being on site deterred the suspect through intimidation. We applaud the use of Brady’s K-9 Fund or similar agencies and grants to support Canine Officers’ needs, both while in-service and retired.
Comments 1
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CO1Solano County's Civil Grand Jury investigation on canine activity and duties contradicted much of what the media is presenting. Canine training has been updated from past years to a positive reinforcement training curriculum with improved results. Apprehensions are much higher with a canine team than without. Data shows as much as ten times more apprehensions with a Canine Team than without. In many cases, the Canine Officer was never deployed, but being on site deterred the suspect through intimidation. We applaud the use of Brady's K-9 Fund or similar agencies and grants to support Canine Officers' needs, both while in-service and retired.