General Requirements for Police Service Dogs

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Definitions

Bite:  A police dog’s use of mouth and teeth to grab or hold a person’s body or clothes.

Director:  The Director of Policing and Law Enforcement Services referred to in section 39 (1) of the Police Act.

Police Dog Equipment: Includes but is not limited to collars, leashes, crates, and harnesses.

Police Dog Handler:  A police officer who is trained to handle police dogs.

Standards

Permitted uses of a police dog

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, or Commissioner may:

(1) Authorize the use of police dogs for the following purposes:

(a) Tracking or searching for persons who may have committed, or be about to commit, an offence;
(b) Apprehending persons by police dog Bite or display;
(c) Tracking or searching for missing or lost persons;
(d) Searching for drugs;
(e) Searching for explosives/firearms;
(f) Searching for evidence;
(g) Crowd control;
(h) Community relations and other demonstration events; and
(i) Other uses approved by the Director.

Police dog and handler training and qualification

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, or Commissioner must:

(2) Ensure that every Police Dog Handler and their assigned police dog successfully complete a training course for police dog work and are qualified to perform the operational functions specifically authorized.

Responsibilities of the Police Dog Handler

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, or Commissioner must:

(3) Ensure that every Police Dog Handler is required to keep their police dog under control at all times by commands and/or physical restrictions, or other relevant action.

(4) Require that Police Dog Handlers take reasonable steps to ensure that the police dog does not Bite when it would be reasonable to search for, locate, arrest or apprehend a person without a Bite, including but not limited to:

(a) Shortening the length of the leash;
(b) Maintaining visual contact with their police dog; and
(c) Recalling the police dog.

(5) Require that Police Dog Handlers must deploy their dog on a leash, unless the environment/terrain or the risk involved would make it unreasonable.

(6) Require that Police Dog Handlers inspect all Police Dog Equipment on a weekly basis to ensure it is in good working order, and replace any faulty equipment.

Policies and procedures

The Chief Constable, Chief Officer, or Commissioner must ensure that:

(7) All policies and procedures are consistent with these BC Provincial Policing Standards.

Annotation

Bite definition: The does not include bites in training on training equipment, such as a padded sleeve or suit.