LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP POLICE DEPARTMENT
General Order
Number
Effective Date
Review Date
Distribution Number of
Code
Pages
9/01/2005
A
6.11
11
Subject
Section Name
Canine Unit and Operations
Operations
Source Document
Status
New Jersey Attorney General Guidelines
(K-9 Training Standards and Qualification Standards)
(Use of Force)
New
xxx
Revised
International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Law Supercedes Order
Number
Enforcement Canine Model Policy
Author
Special Instructions
Lt. Mark Ubry
Date
Revision History
Page
Issued by
Section
Date Signed
This directive was developed by the Lawrence Township Police Department for internal
management, and is not intended to expand or enlarge the civil or criminal liability of any
employee in any way. This directive should not be construed as the creation of a higher
standard of safety or care in an evidentiary sense with respect to third party claims.
Violations of this written directive may be used only to form the basis for administrative
disciplinary action within this agency.
1 of 5.01
I. Purpose
A. The purpose of this General Order is to establish a canine unit and provide
guidance for the proper, efficient, and safe utilization of the Lawrence
Township Police Department’s canine team in a manner that will be most
effective in attaining the department’s goals in serving the community and
protecting its citizens. It is also intended to direct and guide a canine
handler’s decision-making process in the appropriate use and handling of
the police canine.
II. Policy
A. It is the policy of the department to participate in United States homeland
security efforts by accepting an explosive detection canine for use in the
protection of the Township of Lawrence as well as participating in a regional
task force to protect all citizens. The canine team will be trained and
deployed in a manner that will provide our citizens with the best police
service possible. The canine team will function to deter terrorism while also
performing police patrol dog functions. The canine and handler will receive
training and will also meet the qualification requirements in accordance with
the Attorney General’s Guideline on K-9 Training.
III. Definitions
A. Police Officer Handler: A Police Officer who officially utilizes a police dog in
the course of assigned duties and responsibilities.
B. Police Dog: A dog that has been trained by a canine trainer and is handled
by a police officer handler in the performance of his/her duties, used for law
enforcement purposes of any law enforcement related activities.
C. Police Patrol Dog: A police dog used for routine patrol work in law
enforcement, such as building searches, field or open area searches,
wooded area searches, swamp or marsh searches, article searches,
tracking and criminal apprehension.
D. Police Specialty Dog: A police dog used specifically for specialty work or
specialized scent work such as detection and tracking in law enforcement,
that is, narcotics detection, arson accelerant detection, explosive detection,
tracking article and cadaver detection.
E. Canine Team: A canine team is comprised of the police officer handler and
the police dog.
F. Cross-Trained Police Dog: A dog that has been trained and certified as a
police patrol dog while also being certified in one area of police specialty
dog work such as explosive detection.
2 of 5.01
IV. Procedures
A. The canine team is assigned to the Investigation Division. The Investigation
Division Commander shall be the supervisor of the canine team. All training
and special detail requests shall be authorized by the Investigation Division
Commander or in his absence the Operations Captain. When not assigned
to training or special details, the canine team will work with the patrol
division according to a schedule that is approved by the Chief of Police.
B. When scheduled to work in patrol, the canine handler shall report to the onduty patrol supervisor at the beginning of his shift. The Shift Commander
shall place the canine team on the Platoon Deployment Chart. The handler
should brief the Shift Commander to his assignments and duties, if any, that
were given to the handler by the Investigation Division Commander.
C. When the canine handler is assigned to training or other detail approved by
the Investigation Commander, the training or post shall be conspicuously
posted in P.O.S.S. (Police Officer Scheduling System) so that the Shift
Commander is aware that the handler has other assignments and will not
be available for patrol work.
D. The primary mission of the police canine team is the detection of explosives
and proactive deterrence of terrorism. In addition, to fully utilize the
capabilities of the canine team, the Lawrence Township canine, Shadow,
has been trained as a Cross-Trained Police Dog. The Canine Team has the
following abilities:
1. Detection of explosives.
2. Tracking of individuals sought by police.
3. The search of buildings or areas for suspects.
4. Locating evidence that has been abandoned or hidden.
5. Reasonable and necessary physical apprehensions.
6. Search of lost and missing persons.
7. Protection of police officers and others.
C. All members of the department shall cooperate and assist the canine team.
1. No member of the department will touch, handle, feed, or pet the police
canine unless given permission by the handler. Members also shall not
give any toy or any other object to the dog.
3 of 5.01
2. Members of the department shall not tease, agitate or harass the police
canine. No item shall be placed near or in the dog’s cage or kennel
without permission of the handler.
3. Members of the department shall refrain from horseplay with other
personnel or the handler when the police canine is present. Members
shall not make aggressive gestures towards the handler.
4. If the canine is working (for example, actively tracking, scenting, or
apprehending) and approaches an employee, the employee shall stand
still. The canine handler will control the canine.
D. The Training Officer shall be responsible for training to all members of the
department on the capabilities and attributes of the canine team as well as
the proper behavior of officers in the presence of the police dog. At times,
officers or supervisors may be asked to assist in training in an effort to
make them familiar with the capabilities and attributes of the canine team.
No member shall serve as a role player in “bite work” training unless such
participation is approved by the Chief of Police and all appropriate safety
measures are undertaken.
E. The canine team shall perform the duties and assignments of their
respective shift, except when their services are required for special details
or training sessions.
1. The canine team should be utilized to respond to and provide backup in
matters involving:
a. Bomb threats or suspicious circumstances.
b. In progress burglaries and robberies.
c. Burglar and hold-up alarms.
d. Motor vehicle stops.
e. Fleeing criminals.
f. Unsecured buildings.
g. Disturbances.
2. As a general matter, supervisors and communications personnel shall
make every effort to avoid assigning the canine team to duties that
effectively place the canine team out of service for an extended period
of time.
4 of 5.01
a. At no time shall a canine handler be assigned to transport any
person while the police canine is in the handler’s vehicle.
b. The use of the police canine for crowd control is restricted. The
canine shall not be deployed in circumstances where innocent
bystanders or citizens would be intimidated, coerced or frightened.
An example of such is a peaceful demonstration. The canine team
may be assigned as backup for crowd control events if approval is
granted by a command level officer.
c. A command level officer may approve deployment to protect life or
property during a riot or other major unlawful assembly after an
order to disperse has been made. In these situations, the canine
shall be kept on an appropriate leash to protect individuals from
serious injury and shall not initiate offensive action, such as crowd
movement. Defensive action to guard against imminent loss of life or
serious bodily injury to innocent persons and police officers may be
taken at any time. Actions by the canine team to protect property
only during these situations must be approved by a command level
officer.
d. The canine team may be deployed by the shift commander in
exigent circumstances, such as spontaneous disturbances which
are rapidly overwhelming Lawrence Township on-duty personnel. If
the shift commander is calling for mutual aid for an on-going
disturbance, then deployment of the canine team is appropriate. A
command level officer must be immediately notified by the shift
commander of the disturbance and deployment.
3. Any request for the services of the canine team when the canine team
is off-duty must first be cleared through a command level officer.
a. As part of the New Jersey Explosives Detection and Render Safe
Task Force, the canine team may be requested to assist an outside
municipality. Requests must be approved by a command level
officer who will attempt to fulfill the request based on all operational
considerations.
F. Guidelines on the Use of Force for the Police Canine team
1. The use of the police canine team to apprehend a suspect constitutes
the use of mechanical force, which is non-deadly force.
2. The canine handler must fully understand the following use of force
principles, which shall be consistent with Lawrence Township Police
Department General Order # 6.10.
5 of 5.01
a. The canine handler shall only use the degree of force that is
immediately necessary to effectuate a lawful arrest and shall at all
times make every effort to avoid unnecessary injuries.
b. The canine handler shall consider each of the following factors in
determining whether to use a police canine to forcibly affect an
apprehension:
(1)
The severity of the crime under investigation;
(2)
Whether the violator poses an immediate threat to the
safety of the police or others nearby;
(3)
Whether the violator is actively resisting arrest with force
or violence; and
(4)
Whether the violator is attempting to evade arrest by
flight.
c. The canine handler may use a police canine when the handler
reasonably believes it is immediately necessary at the time:
(1)
to overcome resistance directed at the officer or others;
or
(2)
to protect the officer, or a third party from unlawful force;
or
(3)
to protect property; or
(4)
to effect other lawful objectives, such as to make a lawful
arrest.
d. The use of the police canine to stop the commission of a minor
offense or to apprehend a person believed to have committed a
minor offense would be inappropriate in the absence of violent or
threatening conduct that endangers the life or physical safety of the
police or others. Minor offenses include but are not limited to
disorderly person offenses, petty disorderly person offenses,
ordinance violations, and motor vehicle offenses.
3. Whenever the canine has bitten or scratched an individual or has
alleged to have done so, whether or not in the line of duty, the handler
shall perform the following:
6 of 5.01
a. Notify the on-duty supervisor immediately. The appropriate
command level officer shall also be notified via the chain of
command.
b. If no arrest is made, an offer will be made to the individual to provide
medical care and treatment by a qualified medical professional.
c. If an arrest is made, the individual will be provided with medical
treatment in accordance with the Lawrence Township Police
Department policies on injured prisoners.
d. An officer shall take color photographs of the injured area if possible
prior to and following medical treatment.
e. Prepare and submit a use of force report, if applicable, and any
other required report.
4. Whenever the canine is deployed or a person is injured, a written report
shall be made detailing the circumstances surrounding the incident, the
identity of the individual involved and any witnesses, whether the
canine located the suspect or explosives, the extent of injuries, if
known, and measures taken in response to the incident.
5. A copy of the report detailing the circumstances of a person being bitten
or scratched by the police canine shall be forwarded to the Lawrence
Township Health department as required by the New Jersey
Department of Health.
6. Whenever the use of the police canine results in the death or serious
bodily injury to a person, the Chief of Police (via the chain of command)
and Mercer County Prosecutors Office shall immediately be notified.
7. In all cases where the offender purposely harms the police canine, the
investigating officer shall charge the offender with a violation of N.J.S.
2C:29-3.1 Injury to Law Enforcement Animals (3rd degree/death, 4th
degree/harm)
8. A person(s) who interferes with a law enforcement officer using a
canine in the performance of official duties may be charged under the
same statue. Such charge is a disorderly persons offense.
G. Officer’s responsibilities while awaiting the arrival of the canine team.
1. Building searches for suspects in hiding:
a. The building perimeter shall be secured by police personnel.
7 of 5.01
b. Whenever possible the building owner should be contacted to
determine if there may be tenants or others in the building and to
ascertain the buildings layout.
c. When a building search is anticipated, a preliminary search by
officers should not be conducted, as this will interfere with the
canine’s ability to discriminate scents.
d. The on-scene supervisor shall also take the following steps in
preparation for the canine search:
(1)
Evacuate all tenants, workers, or others from the facility.
(2)
Request the heat and air conditioning be shut off to not
interfere with the canine’s scent.
e. Upon the canine entering the building all exits should be secured
and communications limited to that of a tactical nature.
f. Before commencing the search the handler or other appropriate
personnel shall make an appropriate announcement that there are
police officers on the premises and that a trained police canine will
be released. The offender shall also be advised that the canine may
bite him/her if he/she does not surrender.
(1)
A reasonable amount of time shall be allowed for the
suspect(s) to respond. This warning shall be repeated on
each level of multi-level structures.
(2)
Where there is a reasonable belief that the suspect speaks a
language other than English, an officer or other individual
fluent in that language should be summoned to the scene if
available, and the exigency of the situation permits.
g. The canine may be unleashed during a building search, unless there
is an imminent risk of injury to innocent persons within the facility.
(1)
A backup officer should be assigned to work with the canine
team. The officer should take a position to the rear of the
handler and follow all instructions given by the handler.
(2)
Except in exigent circumstances or where there is an
imminent danger of death or serious injury, the canine should
be kept in visual contact by the canine handler.
8 of 5.01
2. For tracking of lost/missing persons or criminal suspects or to locate
evidence that an officer has reason to believe has been abandoned or
hidden in a specified open area:
a. When officers are pursuing suspects and contact with the suspect is
lost, the officer, prior to summoning the canine team, shall:
(1)
Stop and pinpoint the location where the suspect was last
seen;
(2)
Shut off engines of vehicles in the area if possible; and
(3)
Avoid vehicle or foot movement in the area where the
suspect or subject was last seen.
b. The on-scene supervisor shall:
(1)
Secure the perimeter of the area to be searched;
(2)
Secure the integrity of the area to be searched by keeping all
personnel out of the area; and
(3)
Request the services of the canine team as per protocol.
(4)
Locate and protect all items of clothing (in a manner that was
instructed during training) that will be used for scent. Such
scent items shall be turned over to the handler upon his/her
arrival.
c. When tracking persons, the canine should remain on a leash.
H. Responsibilities of the Canine Handler
1. The decision to apply canine force in any given situation shall be
routinely left to the discretion of the canine handler. The canine handler
is the only one capable and trained to read or understand changes in
the canine’s demeanor, which would affect its application. However, a
supervisor may countermand a canine handler’s decision to use force
but the supervisor may not countermand a handler’s decision not to use
force.
2. It shall be the responsibility of the canine handler to ensure that
practical safety precautions are taken at the time of deployment of the
canine. This will include verbal warnings to all persons in the canine
work area, briefing of other officers explaining needed assistance, the
canine’s abilities and limitations for the deployment.
9 of 5.01
3. The canine handler is responsible to maintain certifications in specialty
police dog-explosive detection and patrol police dog as required by the
New Jersey Attorney General’s guideline on K-9 Training. Training
deficiencies and certification failure must be reported to the
Investigation Division Commander immediately. The Investigation
Division Commander shall ensure that the canine team is trained, at a
minimum, to be in accordance with the training standards of specialty
and police patrol dogs as listed in the Attorney General’s Guideline on
K-9 Training.
4. The canine handler shall provide the Investigation Division Commander
with accurate and up-to-date records in the following areas:
a. Training records
b. Medical and health records.
d. Performance records.
5. The handler is responsible for ensuring that the canine is maintained in
a healthy environment. This includes proper feeding and routine
physical inspections.
a. The handler shall notify his supervisor immediately of any problems
or difficulties he has experienced with the canine.
b. The handler shall report all canine injuries or sicknesses promptly to
his supervisor, who shall ensure that proper care is given and
necessary reports are filed.
c. The handler shall ensure that the canine is properly licensed.
6. The handler shall report to work with the canine, unless prior approval
has been given by a command level officer.
7. The canine is to be kept on a leash at all times, unless the canine team
is performing an operation or training that requires otherwise.
8. The handler will be assigned a canine vehicle. This vehicle will be
clearly marked as a canine vehicle. The handler is authorized to take
this vehicle to his residence while off-duty.
a. The handler is responsible for inspection and maintenance of the
canine vehicle.
10 of 5.01
b. The canine vehicle is to be used for official use only and may not be
used for personal use.
c. The canine officer may leave an unattended canine vehicle running
when necessary for the health and well being of the canine. The
handler must ensure that the unattended vehicle is locked.
I.
Responsibilities of the Investigation Division Commander, pertaining to the
Canine Team.
a. He is responsible to approve all mutual aid assignments (with notice
to the Chief of Police), exhibitions, special details, and training
assignments.
c. He is responsible for arranging the canine team schedule,
vacations, and alternative dog care during leaves.
d. He is responsible for proper fiscal spending of grant and department
funds for the canine team. The Investigation Division Commander is
also responsible to keep an up to date file on the previously listed
records that are required to be completed by the canine handler in
section H of this order.
e. The Investigation Division Commander shall report through the
normal chain of command on the status and conditions of the canine
team.
f. In the Investigation Division Commander’s absence, the canine
handler shall report via chain of command to the next highest
supervisor.
11 of 5.01