Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Lughar, though, made everything look easy. He had excelled at turning around and com-
ing back to Dave, then, when he was released once again, going back toward the decoy, get-
ting a solid bite, and coming of the bite on command. He had plenty of drive but was cap-
able of listening. Dave, like Lughar, had everything he needed to succeed—except experience.
He was a thoughtful, serious handler.
The problem tonight was that Dave's kids had the flu. They'd been up all night with high
fevers. Everyone had been sick. Except the dog. But it always takes two—dog and hand-
ler—to make it work. Dave's exhaustion and nerves were running down the leash. “What
happened to my perfect Lughar?” Sprouse said mournfully, watching his prize pupil fly down
the field, backlit with sodium vapor lights, and dive into the shadows where Pete, playing the
role of decoy, stood. It would have been beautiful if Dave hadn't been yelling harshly, in vain,
for Lughar to return to his side and ignore Pete. Instead, Lughar ignored Dave: Pete's bite
suit was too enticing. Lughar leaped, full-mouthed, at Pete's raised arm. Steve could envision
the graduation demonstration, high-ranking officers watching as an open-jawed Lughar kept
charging, Dave yelling futilely behind him.
• • •
No police K9 function is more misunderstood and more terrifying than the patrol-dog bite.
Police K9 units have put a good distance between the civil rights-era protests when Birm-
ingham Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene “Bull” Connor turned fire hoses and snarling
German shepherds on peaceful protesters. Warm and fuzzy now prevails when the comfort-
ably middle class thinks about police canines. The media portrayals of police canines these
days are “four-footed community police officers,” said Charlie Mesloh at Florida Gulf Coast
University. A former police K9 handler, Charlie is now a criminology professor who re-
searches the use of force, including the use of patrol dogs.
Although many dog lovers view police K9s as anthropomorphized heroes, catching bad
guys, saving their human partners from armed and dangerous suspects, we don't like to think
too much about exactly how dogs do that. They don't have opposable thumbs. They have
speed. And teeth. Like other uses of force, dog bites can do serious damage. If a handler, or
an entire unit, is overzealous, departments can be liable. That's true of any use of force, but a
visceral fear arises from the misuse of dogs. Yet the “find and bite” or “bite and hold” patrol
dog is the most common patrol dog in the country.
The dog's first job is to intimidate so that a suspect surrenders before a dog or any other
weapon is deployed. Terry Fleck, a legal specialist in the use of police K9, is clear: He con-
siders them a “use of force elimination tool.”
If the suspect doesn't surrender, the dog's job is to go in, find the person, and bite him. Or,
infrequently, her. Unlike guns or even Tasers, police K9s in the United States so rarely kill a
