By Ashley Remkus
When police dogs bite: 6 takeaways from the investigation
Police dogs are often portrayed as harmless, loveable members of the local police.
But many departments across the country use dogs as weapons, training the animals to bite thousands of people every year, causing serious and even fatal injuries.
A new investigation from The Marshall Project, AL.com, IndyStar, the USA TODAY Network and the Invisible Institute exposes the widespread use — and abuse — of dogs in police departments across the U.S.
1. Some police forces use biting dogs far more than others.
Police in Chicago almost never deploy dogs for arrests and had only one incident from 2017 to 2019. Washington, D.C., had five. Seattle had 23. New York City, where policy limits their use mostly to felony cases, reported 25.
By contrast, Indianapolis had more than 220 bites and Los Angeles reported more than 200 bites or dog-related injuries.
2. K-9 Bites can cause life-altering injuries, even death.
Dogs used in arrests are bred and trained to have a bite strong enough to punch through sheet metal. Their bites can be more like shark attacks, according to experts and medical researchers. When they are used on people, they can leave harrowing scars, torn muscles and dangerous infections.
3. Many people bitten were not violent and were suspected of minor crimes
While many police agencies say they use dogs only to capture people accused of violent crimes or when officers are in danger, our review of bites around the country found the dogs are frequently used in minor cases.
4. Most police dogbite victims are men
A statistical study found that police dog bites sent roughly 3,600 people to emergency rooms each year from 2005 to 2013; almost all were male and Black men were overrepresented.
A statistical study found that police dog bites sent roughly 3,600 people to emergency rooms each year from 2005 to 2013; almost all were male and Black men were overrepresented.
5. Police officers sometimes can’t control the dogs, worsening injuries.
Even when dogs are trained to release their bites with a verbal command, they sometimes don’t let go. While training experts say bites should last seconds, we found numerous cases that lasted minutes as handlers struggled to pull off the dogs.
6. There’s little accountability or compensation for many bite victims.
Excessive force lawsuits over dog bites are difficult to win. Police officers are often shielded from liability, and federal civil rights laws don’t typically cover bystanders who are bitten by mistake. It can also be hard for someone who pleads guilty or gets convicted of resisting arrest, or a similar crime, to file a lawsuit.