Police K9 Homepage
Southwind Kennels
Administrator's Case Law
Summary
Police Canine Unit Administrator's have a tremendous amount
of responsibility placed upon them. They must not only
oversee the safe and effective performance of their canine
teams but also insure that their performance is within
legal guidelines.
Unit trainers and administrator's can incur vicarious
liability (liability of one person for the conduct of
another based on a relationship between the two)
through the action of the individual canine teams.
This liability can range from negligent appointment
and retention to negligent training, assignment,
supervision and discipline.
The canine unit administrator must also insure that
each member of the canine unit is properly equipped.
All necessary training materials should be provided.
The unit supervisor should also be aware that the FLSA
applies to police canine units and there is an
overwhelming ammount of case law to support such a claim.
Police canine handlers must be compensated for the
time spent caring for their assigned canine both
during the work week and on weekends while off duty.
Case law is indecisive about the issue of compensation
for the handler concerning transportation of the
assigned canine.
Strict guidelines must be adopted by your agency and
incorporated into your depatement's policy manual.
Both the prospective handler and canine must pass
mental and physical tests to determine their
suitability for the job. Is the dog capable of
performing the job required and is the officer
suitable for police canine duty? Training must be
thoroughly documented and consistent with national
standards in both quality and quantity. Canine teams
must be tested on regular intervals to insure that
they continue to meet the minimum standards of
proficiency.
The unit administrator should regularly review all use
of force reports. He/she should also evaluate each
member of the unit on a regular basis and document any
necessary corrective or remedial action taken.
Testing should be done by a qualified professional who
poses no possible conflict of interest for the testing
process. All testing should also be thoroughly documented.
The testing process should be performed at least annually.
Training should be performed by a qualified professional.
Training should be a continuous process and performed at
least bi-weekly or weekly after initial certification.
Each and every deployment and community contact
(public demonstration) of the team should be properly
documented. The administrator should also review these
on a regular basis.
The canine team should be available to calls for service
from both within and outside your agency. The canine
team should be utilized when appropriate but restrained
when it's use is inappropriate or improper.
When possible, the unit supervisor should respond to the
scene of a canine deployment. At the very least the
supervisor should be advised of all canine deployments as
they occur to insure adherence to departmental guidelines,
state and federal laws.
When unit members fail to perform satisfactorily the unit
administrator must act swiftly. All remedial or corrective
training and evaluations must be documented. A canine unit
must be removed from duty when remedial or corrective training
does not remedy the situation. And handlers that fail to
perform satisfactorily should be replaced.
Adequate training and proper documentation are the keys to
success for the police canine administrator. The following
list of case law will provide general guidance in these
areas or feel free to research your own case law.