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Loaded on March 16, 2023 by Kevin Bliss
Filed under: Dogs. Location: United States of America.
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by Kevin W. Bliss
The history of canine use in modern day American policing began in the 1950s and 1960s, during the tumultuous Civil Rights Era and has since been used as a tool to “civilize the savagery of urban order by pacifying urban space,” according to many civil rights advocates.
Societies began experimenting with canines in law enforcement as early as 1870 in England, followed by Paris in 1910. America institutionalized the practice with the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-’56.
By the early 1960s, 24 law enforcement agencies across the United States carried canine units (referred to as K-9). The preferred breed was the German Shepherd, or also known as an Alsatian, because of their perceived intelligence. The German Shepherd was used by the Germans in World War II to help guard the nation’s concentration camps and airports. As a result, the German Shepherd initially had a bad reputation in America.
To this day, imagery of racial tension in the United States is exemplified with iconic photos of police dogs attacking demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. That racial weaponization of K-9 units against select groups has been repeated in other chapters of American history such as Abu Grahib in the early 2000s.
Civil rights advocates have claimed dogs were deployed as tools meant to dehumanize people of color and “police the mystical and symbolic boundaries of the color lines.”
“The mystical power of the police dog,” according to one journalist, “was its apparent ability to recognize the boundaries in need of protection – white propertied bodies – from those darker bodies prowling the boundaries of white bourgeois order.”
K-9 units have been portrayed as favored extensions of police in crime fighting and riot control. They are considered companions with the desirable traits of obedience, loyalty, courage, and discipline. Yet, opinions of their efficacy were polarized with the public understanding that attack training focused primarily on skin color while newspapers lauded their role in protest moderation.
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- Maryland Sheriff Charged with Illegally Procuring Machine Guns from ATF, Sept. 15, 2023
- Voting Rights Restoration for Virginia Ex-Felons Once Again Subject to Governor’s Whim, Sept. 15, 2023
- Prison Profiteer Who Chairs Christian Seminary Board Called Not Very ‘Christlike’, Aug. 15, 2023
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More from these topics:
- $15,000 to Virginia Prisoner Mauled by DOC K-9, May 1, 2024. Restraints, Dogs.
- Virginia Leads the Nation in K-9 Attacks on Prisoners, Jan. 1, 2024. Racial Discrimination, Statistics/Trends, Dogs.
- Sheep and Sheepdogs: Use and Abuse of Non-Lethal Crowd Control Weapons, Nov. 1, 2023. Protests, Pepper Spray/Tear Gas, Dogs, Excessive Force (Police).
- A Brief History of K-9 Units in Law Enforcement, April 15, 2023. Racial Discrimination, Dogs, Drug-Sniffing Dog.
- $175,000 Paid by California County to Escaped Prisoner Mauled By K-9 During Recapture, March 1, 2023. Escapes, Dogs, Settlements.
- Second Circuit Affirms Qualified Immunity for Connecticut Cops who Sicced K-9 on Suspect in His Holding Cell, March 1, 2023. Guard Misconduct, Dogs, Immunity - Absolute and Qualified.
- Delaware Prison Guard Indicted for Death of His K-9, Feb. 22, 2023. Dogs, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death).
- Ohio Pays $185,000 to State Prisoner Bitten in Genitals by K-9, Jan. 1, 2023. Dogs, Settlements.
- Police Dog Rips a Suspect’s Eye from Its Socket after Pretextual Traffic Stop, July 25, 2022. Guard Brutality/Beatings, Dogs, Traffic Stops.
- Michigan Guard Arrested for Killing the Service Dog He Adopted at His Prison, June 6, 2022. Dogs, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death).
