Police Dog attack
Ali Badr, an Egyptian immigrant and Uber driver . He seemed to be standing in front of his vehicle and slipping on his shoes when a cop unleashes the dog that shreds open his arm . This heinous spectacle has no place in a sensible system of public safety.
Yet, according to our colleagues at the Marshall Project, San Jose Mercury News, and Oaklandside, Badr’s harrowing experience is far too typical in the United States and Bay Area.
It is past time for law enforcement agencies to abandon the myth that a dog’s bite is necessary for public safety . The harm often outweigh the danger . Also police frequently deploy dogs as weapons against a certain kind of suspect.
According to a research published in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, In 2013, 95% of the people hospitalized for police dog bites were black men. Jamar Lindsey is one of them.
A police dog assaulted him in San Pablo in February. Additional information for you Lindsey was on the ground and complying . It is according to a federal complaint he filed against the city and its Police Department in August . Because of one of three officers reportedly let a canine to sink its fangs into his calf.
Lindsey informed me the assault lasted one or two minutes. Recovering from the physical and psychological injuries has taken much longer. “I now have a dog phobia, despite the fact that I used to have pets,” Lindsey said.
parallels
There are several parallels between what happened to Lindsey and Badr. Lindsey said that he had just arrived at a bus stop when he was contacted by a police officer . The police officer asked him to identify himself.
Badr was apprehended while driving a rental automobile that had been reported stolen . That is because of his failure to make certain payments. Neither guy was prosecuted, but both were hospitalized with life-altering injuries as a result of their confrontations.
The San Pablo Police Department refused to comment on the circumstances surrounding Lindsey’s death, citing the pending federal lawsuit. And the San Ramon Police Department confirmed to The Chronicle that an inquiry of Badr’s arrest was performed . But they refused to disclose any specifics.
The history of police dogs
Dogs as oppressive instruments have a long history in our nation. Canines were created in America with the express purpose of putting an end to slave rebellions . The practice persisted even after the end of slavery.
During Jim Crow, African-American sharecroppers faced dog attacks if they attempted to flee a plantation. Throughout the civil rights period, cops continued to utilize canines as weapons of fear.
Suspects were referred to as “dog biscuits” by police officers in the Los Angeles Police Department as recently as the 1980s . “Unfortunately, they’ve been a fixture of police cases for the past 20-25 years,” said John Burris, an Oakland civil rights attorney . He represents Lindsey and has filed previous claims on behalf of police dog victims.
“Dog bites may be utilized by authorities for purposes other than pain compliance. They have the potential to serve as a sort of street justice for cops. As much as this is a matter of police policy . There is a sociological component at work . Law enforcement is still much too eager to embrace a weapon . That is a relic of the bigotry upon which America was established.
The Bay Area
On the other hand,The Bay Area is still too quick to turn a blind eye. For example, the San Jose Mercury News reported that from 2014 to 2019, 60 percent of use-of-force cases resulting in severe injuries in Richmond featured police dogs.
And, according to the East Bay Times and Mercury News, the city of Hayward paid many substantial settlements to police dog victims between 2013 and 2015. Police dogs are bred to bite viciously.
And they are not beyond making errors, such as striking uninvited spectators or other police. They sometimes murder individuals. And sometimes, they are killed in the line of duty.
Heatstroke was responsible for roughly 30% of the 21 police canine fatalities last year . according to the Officer Down Memorial Page. As the son of a retired officer, I appreciate the value of canines in policing.
While sniffing out explosives and assisting in search and rescue operations are important, mauling individuals on command should not be one of their jobs. Lindsey claimed he just began physical treatment almost a year after being bitten.
He continues to have discomfort when he walks, and actions that were previously effortless, such as climbing stairs, remain tough. As for reestablishing his faith in a police system whose mission it is to protect him from harm, not inflict it, that trip will take much longer.
“I try to take each day as it comes,” Lindsey said. “However, it’s been difficult.