Police dogs bite 13 people a week as victims say ‘reckless’ officers behind rise

17 comments

1. So we should obviously ban police dogs then, right? Just like we did to the XL Bully’s.

2. Well, we have a nation where strange people have an obsession with dogs. Dirty animals that slobber, bark, shed, piss and shit everywhere. Disgusting. Now, there is a place for police dogs, unlike the XL bullies and other dogs shitting and pissing all over the place. But the officers should be charged if their nasty dogs go to attack someone. How comes people can walk around with these animals yet I can’t even carry a can of pepper spray?

3. Pretty sure the easy answer to this is to not get in to a position where the police are chasing you with a dog, no?

4. If I’m understanding this right, the total number of times that dogs have been deployed went up 50%, and so the number of bites also went up 50%.

   That would indicate that the handlers are just as cautious/reckless as usual, but their superiors are using them more often.

5. And it definitely isn’t dickheads running from the dogs?

6. Could it be because the quality of the training for both the dog and handler has gone down due to budget cuts?

7. A dog seems like a great tool for the police to use to me – we can’t keep removing their tools.

8. A dog seems like a great tool for the police to use to me – we can’t keep removing their tools.

9. i imagine they were committing violent offenses rather than children on a park

10. No more dogs. Bad for climate change. Bad for everything. People should find company in their communities, and if they don’t have a community then that’s another reason to not tie down people at home to their dogs.

11. >At least **653 bites** were recorded … **compared with 414** in 2018, the first year the Home Office started recording statistics around the use of police dogs.

    >The total number of incidents where dogs were deployed has also increased dramatically, **from 1,920 in 2018 to 3,023** in 2023

    This is a none story. 50% more dog bits because they were deployed 50% more often.

12. Compare the language around people defending cops – who have all the training to not be violent – to a few absolute fools with XL bullies. Public love a fringe problem without ever looking at our institutions

13. Weird.

    I’ve never been bitten by a police dog. And I’m fucking old.

    I wonder why that is ?

14. If that’s across the country, then that number seems disappointingly low.

    Dog handlers are well trained, professional and very accountable for what their dogs do.

    Headline should read “13 tw#ts f@cked about this week and found out”.

15. So two incidents out of how many? in what time period?

    Both incidents are bad don’t get me wrong but 2 isn’t what I would call a massive issue.

    Police dogs work and should be used when needed they are absolutely amazing at what they do. The bites count as the officers use of force and will be recorded on BWV and subject to investigation if used incorrectly.

    What I don’t like about the incidents given in the article is there is absolutely minimal information. I have many questions, like why was the old lady in the garden with an off lead police dog? Why was the dog off lead? How did it come into contact with her.

    Besides these very tragic incidents, if there is a police dog running after you there is a reason.

16. Our police are armed with sticks and spicey linx spray.

    Violent crime is on the rise and standard responses can’t deal with some situations so these alternative tactics are deployed more as they hapen more.

    If you want to limit dog deployment start by getting every front line officer a tazer or ensure every officer works in a pair or somthing

17. For anybody interested in training, here’s a [Bitey end of the dog podcast episode about training police dogs](https://open.spotify.com/episode/0wNiyOsMBYaVWC6Zk3qSKs?si=Yrl9voevRomVNUUQEBgEyw). It’s an interview of a couple of US trainer, one of them a former police officer and dog handler.