Don’t Scare The Criminal
Today the papers are full of the latest ‘namby pamby’ police guidelines. This time, police dog handlers have been told to ‘avoid offending’ anyone who might have a phobia of dogs or allergies to dogs when they’re using police dogs in raids or investigations. What??!?
Apparently, this culture of compensation has caused fears that the police may receive compensation claims if someone suffered an asthma or panic attack because of the police dogs. Stuff that, let the dogs do their job.
There were also reports that dogs might be required to wear little boots on their paws when searching Muslim home or mosques, but these have been denied. Dog handlers have been told to take ‘cultural sensitivities’ into account though.
The police force magazine Police Review has ridiculed the plans, calling it
the latest diktat from “the polite police”
One anonymous columnist, a sergeant, writes:
The traditional shout of ’stand still or I’ll set the dog on you’ will presumably have to become ‘excuse me, my police dog is quite hairy and might cause alarm as he sinks his fangs into his right thigh. Is that all right with you?’
“The whole point of police dogs is to frighten people rigid, at least those who have just committed a crime and would otherwise make a clean getaway. They should have considered the mental trauma and possible allergic reaction caused by 60lbs of foaming Alsatian clamping its teeth to their extremities before embarking on their criminal escapade.”
In an article in the Telegraph, a dog handler, who asked not to be named, said:
“I have never heard anything so ridiculous. What’s next? Sparing people custody because they have a fear of enclosed spaces? This is just another example of namby pamby policing laid down by people who haven’t been on the beat in years.”
An ex-dog handler, PC Mike Dermody, of Greater Manchester Police added:
“I have never encountered an incident where we have offended someone. If there is a person with an allergy, we will put them in one room while we search the rest of the house.”
Peter Vaughan, the Association of Chief Police Officers’ adviser on dogs and deputy chief constable of South Wales Police did add that
“in all operations effective policing will take primacy”
This meant that dog handlers would not have to consider possible allergies in some situations, for example, when tackling violent criminals.
Thank goodness for that then.
Jul 22, 2008 | 0 | News
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