Police dog has bite history皮尔警局警犬咬伤人记录

机器猫 · 发表于 2011-9-6 22:56

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A police dog who attacked an innocent Mississauga woman has a history of biting people, say Peel Regional Police sources.
More than one inside source have confirmed that several incidents of biting are documented in the file of Wyatt.
In the majority of the cases, the dog bit suspects during an investigation or pursuit. However, sources say there's at least one report from earlier this year where Wyatt is alleged to have bitten a Peel police employee.
Peel Staff Sgt. Taufic Saliba confirmed last night (Tuesday, Sept. 6) that Wyatt has been involved in 73 police occurrences, resulting in 46 apprehensions. Of the 73 occurrences, 14 involved bites. Of those 14 bites, 13 were in the course of his duties, Saliba said.
The dog has been with Peel Police for nearly two years.
The other bite occurred in early June of this year and involved a civilian employee. The employee received a minor injury, Saliba said.
Police reviewed the circumstances of the employee incident and determined that it was a training issue with the dog handler, which has since been addressed, Saliba said.
"Our police service dogs are trained to assist with locating wanted suspects, as well as evidence and narcotics," he said. They are also trained to locate lost or missing persons."
The German Shepherd and his handler, Cst. Marty Kirwan, became the centre of a Special Investigations Unit (SIU) probe this summer when Wyatt bit 21-year-old Michelle Rosales twice while pursuing robbery suspects.
Rosales was in no way connected to the robbery.
The Sheridan College student, who was attacked on June 28, said she's "disappointed" in a decision last week by the SIU to end its probe of the incident. The civilian agency, which investigates police incidents involving death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault to determine whether officers should be charged, said it cannot pursue the matter any further because Peel police won't provide key information, including the dog's on-duty history.
Given the lack of information, the agency said it could find no reasonable grounds on which to charge the Peel police officer identified as the subject officer in the case (Kirwan).
"I think it's absolutely ridiculous that they won't release the information," Rosales said. "Why are police hiding information? Why don't they want them to know?"
Nainesh Kotak, the lawyer representing Rosales, said if Wyatt has a propensity to bite, he should be retired from working as a police dog.
"Public safety is very important," Kotak said yesterday (Tuesday, Sept. 6). "Maybe (the dog's history) influenced the police force's decision to not provide the history to the SIU."
Kotak said a civil lawsuit will petition a judge to order police to disclose whether the dog has a history of attacking and not letting go when ordered to do so by his handler.
"That's the route we will take. I really don't see much defence they will have at the end of the day," said Kotak.
Rosales has also filed a complaint with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, an arms-length agency of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, about the conduct of Kirwan.
Kotak said his client has suffered "permanent scarring and some serious psychological damage" from the attack, which unfolded at about 10 p.m. when four armed officers and a police dog who were looking for robbery suspects came across Rosales and her boyfriend in Mississauga Valley Park. The SIU probe found that the dog leapt off a rock and lunged at Rosales, biting her arm.
Rosales says her wounds remain bandaged.
"Psychologically, this hasn't been good for me," she said. "I've been having a lot of trouble sleeping. I'm afraid to go for walks. It's been kind of tough."
Meanwhile, Peel police Chief Mike Metcalf issued a statement saying the force "did comply with the SIU during this investigation, and in accordance with the Police Services Act and the SIU regulation."
Peel police confirmed the dog and its handler remain on active duty, but are not responding to calls in the field until the force completes its own internal investigation.
According to the SIU, the dog only released its grip on Rosales after repeated commands from its handler. Seconds later, the dog again bit Rosales, who was taken to hospital with severe cuts.
In its probe, the SIU complained about a lack of transparency from Peel police. SIU director Ian Scott said the agency only learned of the attack from the victim's lawyer, when police should have reported the incident.
"(Peel police) did not report this incident to the SIU when it should have been clear that the dog caused a serious injury to Ms. Rosales; she sustained two large lacerations that were serious enough that an ambulance was called to the scene," Scott said in a press release this week. "As a result of this non-notification, the SIU was deprived of a contemporaneous accounting of the incident."
Scott added that Police Dog Services Search Reports, containing the dog's history, would "... be very useful in determining if Wyatt had a prior propensity to bite and not release. Further, they may inform the question of the subject officer's prior knowledge of the dog's propensity."
As is his right under the Police Services Act, the subject officer declined to be interviewed by the SIU, and Peel police say they don't have to turn over his notes.
Scott said he'd reopen the file if police turn over a copy of Wyatt's history.
SIU spokesperson Frank Phillips said Tuesday the case would also be considered for re-opening if witnesses come forward regarding the dog's history.

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