The duration of a police dog bite is a hot topic (“legitimate concern”) nowadays and the time it takes to remove the dog once the use of force is no longer necessary is being heavily scrutinized. If you are not emphasizing the importance of this timing in your discussions and not focusing on and conducting the appropriate ongoing training, you might get in trouble down the road.
Why is timing important for removing a police dog? Once a handler has determined the use of force (the dog bite) is no longer necessary, and the handler gives the first verbal command to and/or a physical action intended for the dog to release the bite, the “unreasonable clock” begins ticking and the time it takes to eventually stop the force (release the bite) is the time the handler will be held accountable and any continuing force (staying on the bite) may be deemed to be excessive.
I was watching a “Police K9 Radio” podcast hosted by Gregg Tawney and Rich Harman with their guest Michael Kmiecik from Sheepdog Guardian Consulting. Michael provides the “Canine Legal Update” training across the country for patrol and narcotics. The discussion centered around “Rosenbaum v. City of San Jose” of which I am directly involved as the expert witness for the City of San Jose.
Naturally, I wanted to listen to this discussion and the discussion was good, however, my key takeaway was a suggestion by Michael for officers on scene of a potential K9 deployment to “glove up” before a dog is deployed. Before reading further, please note this is a suggestion, not a mandate.
If officers assigned to the arrest team put on their protective gloves in advance of a K9 deployment which may result in a bite on a suspect and may also require protective gloves being put on to safely take the suspect into custody, this pre-deployment action will shave time off the overall time it takes to remove the dog.
When the use of force is no longer necessary, a handler should remove his/her police dog from a bite on a suspect as quickly as possible once the suspect is secured or under control and it is safe to do so. It’s important to view a removal in three equal parts; 1) use of force is no longer necessary, 2) suspect secured or under control, and 3) it is safe to do so. I believe putting gloves on can be considered reasonable as part of the repertoire to secure or control and be safe (from blood exposure or other danger). If you do not routinely put on gloves during arrests involving bites, you are already saving time.
Rapidly-evolving situations will occur and will not allow sufficient time for officers to put on gloves in advance of a bite. Officers may not have a reasonable amount of time in advance to safely put on gloves if they are actively providing cover, pursuing a suspect, or confronting a resisting suspect. If officers are not able to glove up in advance, you may want to briefly address the circumstances in your report.
By putting on gloves in advance, when time and officer safety allow it, officers do not have to divide their attention when confronting a suspect being bitten by a police dog to secure or control that suspect while simultaneously trying to glove up before going hands on.
I like this “suggestion” to glove up before a deployment only when time allows it and it’s safe to do so. It should also be incorporated into training. How often do you incorporate “gloving up” as part of your training when taking a suspect into custody? Can your backup officers successfully coordinate cover, control and gloving up? I suggest you stage some (occasional) scenario-based training with a few backup officers that put on their gloves during an attempt to take a semi-resistive decoy into custody during a bite and later conduct a similar scenario where officers glove up before a deployment that results in a bite. Get out your stopwatch to time the difference. After running both scenarios, I would recommend facilitating a discussion on the pros and cons with an emphasize on timing and safety.
As a reminder, please don’t read this reason as a mandate to glove up before every K9 deployment. Will you get in trouble if involved officers don’t glove up before every deployment? Probably not. Could you get in trouble if involved officers don’t glove up before a deployment? Maybe. Read, discuss, and decide.
You can view the Police K9 Radio podcast mentioned by clicking here.
You can get more information about Sheepdog Guardian by clicking here.
You can read “Time on a Bite” by clicking here.
Take care, be safe, and make every day a training day….
Bill Lewis II
This “reason” was originally shared on February 14, 2025.
“The best time to get out of trouble is before it happens.”
“Trouble” isn’t always related to incidents or predicaments that directly result in lawsuits, claims or discipline. Often times, our actions or inactions that are missed, deliberately overlooked or downplayed may lead to nothing or can later lead to mistakes or bad incidents with minimal to serious repercussions. A reason we get in trouble can be minor or simple at first glance – or even serious – but a combination of these factors can often have disastrous consequences.
These “reasons” are provided periodically as a collection in-progress based on actual incidents and real attitudes as well as feedback received at HITS, the CNCA Training Institute, and the “Canine Liability 360” classes. As Gordon Graham says, “We haven’t found new ways to get in trouble.” So, as the list progresses, you may or may not read something familiar to you that you have personally experienced or seen others encounter. If you encountered or heard about it, did you learn from it?