City oversight and police debate tighter K9 deployment rules and reporting

Oversight and police officials debated several policy recommendations from an OPA benchmarking report. The recommendations included explicitly classifying K9 physical apprehensions as use of force, narrowing the threshold for K9 apprehension to emphasize serious violent felonies, creating special protections for vulnerable populations, requiring supervisor approval for deployments in some cases, and expanding public reporting and standardized warning language.

Deputy Chief PJ Baker said the department’s K9 policy (MOP 6‑8) currently triggers use‑of‑force reporting and internal review several times within the manual and that a bite or physical apprehension "will be considered a use [of] force" under the totality‑of‑the‑circumstances approach. "Nowhere in our policy does it specifically say a K9 apprehension is a use of force. However...a K9 physical apprehension...will be considered a use [of] force," he said, and described the existing bite review process that forwards reports to the internal affairs unit and may lead to training or discipline where appropriate.

Commissioners pushed for clearer, narrower language to guide deployments rather than relying only on 'totality of the circumstances.' OPA representative Mr. Davis said oversight still stands by its recommendations and emphasized the public‑access rationale behind some suggestions. City leaders and the police chief acknowledged the department could increase transparency about training and reporting and suggested annual public breakdowns of use‑of‑force and K9 statistics; no binding changes were adopted at the meeting.