An 18-year-old student who received a payout from West Midlands Police is among a rising number of victims suing police over dog bites
Incidents of police dogs biting people have increased by almost 60 per cent since 2018 in what experts have described as a “worrying” trend,At least 653 bites were recorded in England and Wales in the year ending March 2023, an average of around 13 per week, compared with 414 in 2018, the first year the Home Office started recording statistics around the use of
The handler, Pc Mark Baines, avoided any criminal prosecution but was found to have committed misconduct and given a written warning.but it was only in April that the National Police Chiefs Council published its first professional code of practice on how they should be deployed amid a rise in biting incidents.greater scrutiny is needed as they represent clients in dozens of cases where police dogs have allegedly attacked people due to mishandling by officers in recent years.
The boy, who was never arrested or charged with an offence, alleges that officers joked about the incident, remarking that the dog would be happy because he had "not had a bite for weeks". "I think the police as a whole need to rethink their mentality around the deployment of police dogs in ‘attack mode’ - they are being used too casually, too recklessly, too often and my clients are able to testify to the consequences of that.
"It's also in their interests to protect the dog because there's been so much investment of time and money training them." Dave McIver, a former police dog handler of more than 30 years who now acts an expert witness, agreed there needs to be more scrutiny of biting incidents. A spokesperson for the NPCC said: "Police dogs are a valuable asset to policing, both in the prevention and detection of crime.
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