National Police Association Podcast #103 with Don Slavik, Executive Director, United States Police Canine Association, Inc. (USPCA)
National Police Association Podcast #103 with Don Slavik, Executive Director, United States Police Canine Association, Inc. (USPCA)
QUOTES
02:58 "Many people in the area, they have to go to a vendor. They go away to a school or they pick an option where they can go after the dog has been trained and then you spend some time with the dog."
05:18 "We quit using dogs for crowd control a long time ago, way long time ago, because it was seen as not being the right way to use force. And so they decided to go a different way."
08:16 "One of the problems I think is that in law enforcement, no one comes into law enforcement with a history of having a police dog and understanding how it works and how it should run and how they should be supervised."
10:51 "I think they're finding out that it's not punishing the whole group that needs to happen, but they need to take control of the groups that are not in the norm, so to speak, that are using the dogs in a bad way."
21:01 "People and agencies, we recommend that they have a foundation and this foundation is used to get monies at different functions or from citizens that wish to donate. And then they present the money to the department to buy the dog."
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SUMMARY
In this episode of the National Police Association Podcast, Sgt. Betsy Smith interviews Don Slavik, Executive Director of the United States Police Canine Association, Inc. (USPCA). Canine use of force has changed drastically over the last few decades. With more discussions, it is possible to align the needs of the public with the variety of purposes that canine units offer. Defunding and removing qualified immunity, however, are not the solutions and are pointing at the wrong problem.
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HIGHLIGHTS
04:19 The lesser impact of the defund the police and drastic changes in canine use of force
07:08 Discussing changes in canine units with USPCA
10:19 Removing qualified immunity is not the solution
13:56 Modern canine units can be treated like normal dogs and be petted
16:49 Bloodhounds are amazing canines for tracking
20:26 How citizens can help create canine units for their communities
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RESOURCES