Lakewood Police Department Policy and Procedure Dog Interactions		Effective Date: 12/10/2014
	Policy Number: PP-9260

1.         Training – In compliance with C.R.S. 29-5-112, “Dog Interactions with Local Law Enforcement Officers,” police agents and Animal Control Officers will receive three hours of training required by statute on the following subjects:

a.         The identification and meaning of common canine behaviors, and how to differentiate between dogs that are exhibiting aggressive behavior that puts police agents or other persons in imminent danger from dogs that are exhibiting non-threatening behaviors;

b.         What constitutes a reasonable opportunity for a dog owner to control or remove the dog from the area;

c.          The options for distracting and escaping from a dog;

d.         The options for safely capturing a dog; and

e.          Departmental policy regarding dog interactions.

2.         When available and practical, an Animal Control Officer should be the primary responder to dangerous dog calls for service.  Sufficient additional support will be provided to the primary responder when requested or when multiple dogs are present.

3.         Police agents and Animal Control Officers should follow their training to identify dog behaviors that may reasonably put them or other persons in imminent danger as well as dog behaviors that do not reasonably suggest or pose an imminent danger.

 4.         In circumstances in which police agents and Animal Control Officers have sufficient advance notice that a potentially dangerous dog may be encountered, officers should consider reasonable contingencies for dealing with the dog.  Advance notice may include a call to that location with a known history of aggressive dog incidents, a location at which illegal narcotics are suspected to be manufactured or trafficked, or when the police agent or the Animal Control Officer is responding to a call in which it has been asserted or suggested that a person has been bitten by a dog or is in physical danger from a dog.

 5.         Public and officer safety should be the primary concern.

 6.         When the dog owner or an Animal Control Officer is present and it is reasonable and feasible to do so, the dog owner or an Animal Control Officer should be allowed to control or remove the dog from the immediate area in order to permit a police agent to discharge his/her duties.

 7.         A police agent or Animal Control Officer may use reasonable force to prevent a dog from attacking any person.  This may include, but is not limited to, the use of a catch pole, flashlight baton, oleoresin capsicum (OC) spray, Taser, riot shield, fire extinguisher, water hose, less lethal munitions, or any other physical objects that may be appropriate to deter the dog or prevent injury to any other person or themselves.

 8.         A police agent is authorized, in compliance with the use of deadly force policy, to fire his/her weapon at any dog when the police agent has reason to believe that the police agent or another person is in imminent danger of being killed or of receiving seriously bodily injury as a result of the dog’s actions.