4 news outlets team up to reveal police dogs bite and maim thousands of people a year

[swag]

https://journalistsresource.org/media/police-dogs-bite-journalism-tips/

by Denise-Marie Ordway | April 6, 2021

Excerpts:

. . . “A dog chewed on an Indiana man’s neck for 30 seconds, puncturing his trachea and slicing his carotid artery,” according to the main story in the series. “A dog ripped off an Arizona man’s face. A police dog in California took off a man’s testicle. Dog bites cause more hospital visits than any other use of force by police, according to a 2008 academic analysis of 30 departments.”

The team of journalists noted, however, that law enforcement agencies vary substantially in the way they use their dogs.

. . . The journalists point out that police use dogs in what often starts out as a minor incident or a non-incident, such as “a problem with a license plate, a claim of public urination, a man looking for a lost cat.”

The series also discusses how dogs have been used to control and police Black people, starting with slaves in the South. With help from academic experts, the journalists explain the use of dogs from slavery, up through the Civil Rights era to recent years. They also highlight the racial disparities they discovered in their analysis of dog bites.

In Talladega, for example, Black people were injured in almost all cases of dog bites the reporters examined. An officer there testified under oath that a supervisor had said he wanted a dog that would bite a Black person.

. . . more

https://journalistsresource.org/media/police-dogs-bite-journalism-tips/

[Bayard]

1. Those dogs have not been trained properly

Same for the handler, or they're on a power trip. Its up to departments to investigate and rectify. Ultimately, its the dog who will pay.

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

[Martin68]

3. The Post had a good article on police dog violence sometime back. It is a real problem.

Using a dog to maul a Black person is much like kneeling on his neck to show dominance, power, and to humiliate and frighten the subject. The police have honed these techniques to perfection over the years. I grew up respecting the police, but I now do not trust them at a all. The good ones seem to be the exception, not the rule.