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Dept. Of Justice Probe Leads Sheriff To Take K-9 Units Off Streets
May 1, 2009
The Escambia County Sheriff has pulled his department’s K-9 units off the streets following findings released in a Department of Justice investigation.
“The problem was not so much with the K-9 officers,” Morgan told NorthEscambia.com. “It was as much or more with the administration at the time not following up on bites and other other paperwork.”
Sometimes, Morgan said the DOJ investigation found, the previous administration would treat it “like it was just a dog bite, a part of the apprehension. The documentation was not done as it should be.”
The K-9 stand down includes the use of dogs for both suspect apprehension and drug searches. But that does not mean Escambia County is totally without the assistance of K-9 officers.
Morgan said the City of Pensacola has offered the assistance of their K-9 officers when needed. In North Escambia, he said deputies can still request the assistance of the K-9 unit from Century Correctional Institute.
The sheriff said the K-9 unit will remain off the streets for three to six weeks. The dogs and handlers will continue to train during that time. He said that training will include new policies and procedures to avoid the types of problems that led to the DOJ findings. The 14 K-9 handlers in the department will also patrol the streets during the down time without their dogs.
“I am very confident that we can quickly handle the corrections and get the K-9’s back to work,” Morgan said, promising a top to bottom investigation into the K-9 program.
The DOJ investigation into the sheriff’s department, which the DOJ announced three days after Morgan was sworn into office, stemmed from allegations of excessive force during the administration of former Sheriff Ron McNesby.
Comments
5 Responses to “Dept. Of Justice Probe Leads Sheriff To Take K-9 Units Off Streets”
Fishhook240 I do agree with you, I am a canine officer and I for one see first hand the ridiculous coddling of criminals. When I first read this article, and I am taking this at face value, I believe the Sheriff is trying to cover not only his but his departments rear end from meritless lawsuits. I’m not saying that some dirtbag will not still try to sue but, I believe it will be alot harder for someone to bring about a lawsuit if the canine program is in complete compliance with its rules and regulations. Thanks to todays off the wall thinking, not only police but hardworking civilans as well, have to watch everything we do so as not to offend. Nevermind what the criminal did to someones family member or property, thats irrevelant. It is a sad state of affairs.
Dog-gone! That’s messed up.
escambiamom wrote: It’s not going to hurt to take a couple of weeks and review their procedures and policies as long as they continue training the dogs. They can use the other agencies’ K9 when they need dogs.
You’re right. Since crime isn’t a real problem in our area anyway, and there is nowhere for the bad guys to hide, what’s a couple of weeks gonna hurt? I am sure PPD, Century Correctional and FHP will be tearing down the doors to have the opportunity to bring their dogs at the drop of a hat when needed.
This decision is even worse than grounding the chopper.
It’s not going to hurt to take a couple of weeks and review their procedures and policies as long as they continue training the dogs. They can use the other agencies’ K9 when they need dogs. This will reduce the chance of lawsuits in the future if they know they have the proper procedures in place, which will ultimately save the tax payers money. Morgan is looking at the big picture, I think, and making sure he is building on a good foundation.
Fishhook, I agree with your point about not coddling criminals but I don’t think that is happening here.
Come on Sheriff Don’t listen to the DOJ There job is to to find something wrong with the system. If you look hard at any system you can find something wrong with it. This is how they justifie thier job! If they don’t find something wrong they won’t have a job. We as a nation have got to quit giving the criminal more rights and the victims less. If I was a K-9 cop as was called out to a drug prone neighborhood for crowd control or a search and some bystanders started yelling, cussing or throwing things at me or the other deputies or running when told to stop I let the dog do its job and get the crowd under control. We have got to start dealing with this and stop making the cops look like the bad guys. I’m not a cop myself but to deal with the people they have to deal with dailey and to have all the tools that they use dailey taken away only shows/tells the criminal that all they have to do is complain and this will stop the cops from doing what needs to be done to get the job done. A lot of people say they use to much force until the criminals get them and then they start crying for more protection. Wake up before its to late people Call your Sheriff or state rep. and tell them the victims need more rights “NOT THE CRIMINALS”