Department Going To The Dogs

[Unregistered]

Wow there is seriously something wrong with your thinking. They did not want go to trial in Tampa because they are guilty. Easy Money. Did those bites look like easy money? Do you think these people want anything to do with the nppd that violated their rights and most likely will have no problem lying and covering up in trial. Really do you really think people believe this spin. Remember COME AND GET YOUR BITE!! Hogwash! That spin is insane and I hope you are not on active duty for the pd. Because this my friend is the very reason something must be done quickly to sweep out the trash. Really justifying outright police and dog brutality. Most likely more to come. The great thing about this is cameras. Everyone has them. Years ago they just would have got beat and bit with no recourse. Today you just have to smile you are on candid camera. Accept responsibility COME AND GET YOUR BITE.

I am in no way condoning the bites, it was over the top aggressive, but the facts speak for themselves. Teenager committed what 30 car burglaries, was actually being chased from one, was resisting by not complying and he was bit, charges dropped in court, mother is FHP and at the scene and witnessed what had transpired, was the take down legal, most definitely, the continuous biting, not so legal. Traumatic, to say the least. Second settlement well kind of speaks for itself, she was in the car and ran from scene, really doesn't prove anything, was the bite justified, no !!!! Now both so called victims were in the grasp or close to being grabbed up by patrol, so was the dog necessary, obviously not. I am in no way defending the bites, but did the PD have the legal right to stop them, absolutely. In this case this K9 was not properly trained to just knock a subject down and circle until the handler arrived. he was trained to viciously attack, big difference.They are not innocent victims here. The consistent turmoil and brutality of the K9 unit and other members of the NPPD are the direct result of the good old boy system created by the chief. Enforcement thru intimidation. I am almost to the point of believing the chief is made of Teflon, nothing sticks !!!!! Why did they settle with no admission of guilt, simply put, each one had some part in this, either committing a crime or running from one and being chased. Take the money and run !!!!! The complete history of the NPPD under this administration will be on trial when the cases are tried in Tampa, Place yourself in a jurors position, knowing what you know and of course the depositions and the actual testimony by the chief. Think they are not scared, what goes around, comes around and eventually they will be in Federal court. My question is now that Tomy is retired, what happens to this certified vicious dog and who is held liable if he attacks again !!!!!

[Stephanie Gibson]

You are suggesting the problem is the dog and not the handler? I have alwyas assumed it was the Handler/Trainer that trained the K9 and then directed the attacks. That said, Tomy always seemed to be chewing at the bit to go, literally. I had often seen photos of Tomy at public events and he always appeared to have a, what I assume to be, a chew toy in his mouth. If you are right and it is a dog problem, then we took some pretty big unnecessary risks bringing the animal into the public. One in particular was at Toledo Blade Elem where he was being walked along a line of school kids with rubber bar in his mouth.

I have heard two diverging stories on what happened to Tomy's handler.. is he now the Trainer of all K9s or has he been removed completely from the K9 unit? If he is the trainer, is that training the dogs, handlers or both?

[Unregistered]

1. Tomy is an over aggressive dog. Hence his nickname "The Maligator".

2. His handler had a "bite first, ask questions later" attitude.

3. You have a chief who gave free region to the K9 division.
The only thing he was concerned about was the winning of awards at competitions.

[Unregistered]

was just reviewing the IA complaints for 2016 as posted on the NPCC FB page.
number 03-2016--charge-- conduct which creates doubt 11-2016 excessive use of force, both listed Cody Long as subject of investigation. Was wondering if this investigation was the result of the false arrest in 2013 which was documented in a H/T article dated 5/28/2016 Officer subject to inquiry/legal action with accompanying video which clearly shows the incident. But both officers involved were either exonerated or charges not sustained. Anyone smell cover-up, review the article and video and make ur own decision. I guess I am concerned that nearly three yrs elapsed between the time of the incident and the story appeared in the H/T. then after the story appeared and on the complaint of the Chief, a mock investigation was completed. Remember,three years and only because the H/T resurrected it. PD did not initiate this themselves, they basically covered it up.

incident 05-2016 has Bush being charged with failure to work O/T or special shift and had his K9 taken away and two day unpaid suspension
My concern is with all the lawsuits and documented brutality, Bush is brought up on bogus charges, failure to work O/T really. Guess they needed a reason, but did not want to come out and admit the truth.
Smoking mirrors, the creditability of the internal investigations conducted by the NPPD internal affairs and the Chiefs office to include his administration is a joke. I don't believe in hanging good cops out to dry for BS or frivolous civilian complaints, but really video evidence and the state attorney dismissing the charges after viewing the dash cam video . City was served with a notice of claim in this matter. Why is this allowed to continue ?????

[Unregistered]

I am in no way condoning the bites, it was over the top aggressive, but the facts speak for themselves. Teenager committed what 30 car burglaries, was actually being chased from one, was resisting by not complying and he was bit, charges dropped in court, mother is FHP and at the scene and witnessed what had transpired, was the take down legal, most definitely, the continuous biting, not so legal. Traumatic, to say the least. Second settlement well kind of speaks for itself, she was in the car and ran from scene, really doesn't prove anything, was the bite justified, no !!!! Now both so called victims were in the grasp or close to being grabbed up by patrol, so was the dog necessary, obviously not. I am in no way defending the bites, but did the PD have the legal right to stop them, absolutely. In this case this K9 was not properly trained to just knock a subject down and circle until the handler arrived. he was trained to viciously attack, big difference.They are not innocent victims here. The consistent turmoil and brutality of the K9 unit and other members of the NPPD are the direct result of the good old boy system created by the chief. Enforcement thru intimidation. I am almost to the point of believing the chief is made of Teflon, nothing sticks !!!!! Why did they settle with no admission of guilt, simply put, each one had some part in this, either committing a crime or running from one and being chased. Take the money and run !!!!! The complete history of the NPPD under this administration will be on trial when the cases are tried in Tampa, Place yourself in a jurors position, knowing what you know and of course the depositions and the actual testimony by the chief. Think they are not scared, what goes around, comes around and eventually they will be in Federal court. My question is now that Tomy is retired, what happens to this certified vicious dog and who is held liable if he attacks again !!!!!

Knock down and circle,re you serious? Who the hell trains patrol dogs to do that? Are you even a cop? DO you know anything about what a police K-9 is used for?

[Unregistered]

Knock down and circle,re you serious? Who the hell trains patrol dogs to do that? Are you even a cop? DO you know anything about what a police K-9 is used for?

Well here it is, obvious you are not on the job, a patrol dog is not supposed to automatically bite UNTIL OREDERED to do so by the handler. If you were a LEO and had any experience with K9 you would know the dog is released and chases the suspect down, once he (suspect)is within the dogs area the dog lunges and knocks the suspect down, then the K9 circles containing the suspect and barks until the next order from the handler. This is as they say K9 proper procedure. Not release and eat as has done here on numerous occasions. You really should know what you are talking about before you open your mouth, just shows your ignorance. PS everybody except NP trains there dogs to do that or at least is supposed to.

[Stephanie Gibson]

biteor not to bite

Police K-9 unit costs, needs vary by department

By ANNE EASKER

Staff Writer

Punta Gorda’s K-9 services will soon be represented by the friendly face of agolden retriever or Labrador, now that City Council has voted to shift awayfrom suspect apprehension to narcotics detection, welfare tracking and publicrelations.

The city will be one of the only local law enforcement agencies in the area toquit using dogs that bite.

The decision came a few months after reaching a $70,000 settlement with RichardSchumacher, who had been stopped for a bicycling infraction and was mauled byK-9 Spirit last October, suffering injuries requiring surgery and 11 days ofhospitalization. The city never issued a release on the incident to the public,and in the time after when a rumor surfaced, the

Sun had asked about whether the dog had been involved in such an incident onlyto be told no.

But then a dashcam video of the incident surfaced on YouTube in June, bringingthe department under intense public scrutiny.

Police Chief Tom Lewis said the video was discussed at length.

“If that had happened to have been a murderer who ran off into the woods, thatvideo still would look horrific — even if you could morally justify using thedog in a particular circumstance,” Lewis said to the public at his most recentCoffee With the Chief event.

Lewis said K-9 suspect apprehension is somewhat controversial and compared itto police use of batons, which the department chose to end a few years ago.

“I’ll be honest with you, batons are extremely effective — but is it really thetype of police department or the type of stuff we want to be putting out inthis community?” he said.

Aside from the sometimes horrific effects of biting, the department consideredits cost effectiveness.

Of the 640 hours required to certify for both patrol and narcotics, 480 ofthose are for patrol, while only 160 are for narcotics detection. To maintainboth certifications each year, Spirit had to be taken off patrol for trainingeach week.

Throughout his career, he had 12 suspect apprehensions, including theSchumacher case. The extensive training, for fairly small payoff, was deemednot worth the time involved.

Bottom left: Charlotte County Sheriff’s Deputy First Class John Mills willtrain Binks, the Sheriff’s Office’s new bloodhound. The 9-month-old dog wasdonated by DeSoto Correctional Institution.

Bottom right: North Port Police K-9 Officer Chad Walker is pictured with K-9Dutch earlier this year. Dutch, a Belgian Malinois, joined NPPD in December2015, and has since helped locate a missing elderly woman, as well as assistedthe department by discovering drugs, guns and more than $20,000 in cash in aNorth Port home.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE CHARLOTTE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

2014: Purchased with an anonymous donation of $7,000, replacing K-9 Jedi, whoretired due to health problems

Oct. 2015: Biting incident attacking Richard Schumacher. Taken off patrolduring an internal review.

Aug. 2016: Taken off patrol after handler, Officer Lee Coel, was placed onadministrative leave following the Knowlton shooting incident

Dec. 2016: Retired as Coel’s pet, upon request by the original donor

Punta Gorda Police Officer Lee Coel and K-9 Spirit.

COSTS:

Vet/Food K-9 Unit Office Supplies 2013/2014 Budget $1,356 $372

2014/2015 Budget $1,356 $372

2015-2016 Budget $2,240 $372 Source: Sun research
After the mauling incident, Spirit was taken off duty during an internalreview. After an outside K-9 expert determined that his handler, Officer LeeCoel, technically did nothing wrong in refusing to call him off, he was putback on patrol until mid-August of this year.

That’s when Coel pulled the trigger on a gun loaded with live ammo during apublic demonstration, shooting retired librarian Mary Knowlton.

He remains with Spirit at an undisclosed location, pending the outcome of theinvestigation by the FDLE, which has now been passed on to the State Attorney’sOffice.

Although Spirit could be retrained with another handler, the donor who gave theoriginal money to purchase Spirit requested that he stay with Coel.

Sgt. Jason Doherty, the K-9 supervisor for the Charlotte County Sheriff’sOffice, said he’s not aware of any complaints or lawsuits involving the CCSO’s10 K-9 teams. Of the 10, eight are dual-purpose teams, for patrol andnarcotics, while one German Shepherd that was donated does only narcoticsdetection, and one bloodhound is used only for tracking children, elderly ordisabled people who may be lost or missing. The two new Punta Gorda K-9s willbe trained for a combination of these two skills — still referred to assingle-purpose K-9s because welfare tracking does not require its owncertification.

According to Doherty, the majority of suspect apprehensions don’t involvebiting, and those that do are not severe injuries. It’s up to the dog handlerto decide whether the situation warrants canine apprehension.

If it does, the dog finds and bites the person, and then holds on until thehandler comes to secure the suspect.

“They only bite once, normally,” Doherty said.

“They’re taught to grab and hold. Normally, it’s minimalistic injuries.

They’re taken to the ER, looked at, and immediately released to jail.”

As soon as the suspect gives up, the dog is called off. Doherty said the morehorrific injuries come when suspects don’t give up, typically because of druginfluence or mental illness.

“The suspect dictates the amount of time the dog is used to apprehend theperson,” he said. “If the person continues to fight, obviously they’ve madethat decision, and the dog will remain longer.”

Doherty keeps no statistical data on apprehensions but said the vast majoritydon’t involve bites. This year, he said there have been two, which were bothjustified and did not result in any major injuries.

Punta Gorda is not alone in the scrutiny its K-9 Unit has faced. The city ofNorth Port has dealt with four lawsuits in recent years — two of which weresettled out of court and two which have court dates scheduled for 2017 and2018.

North Port Police Chief Kevin Vespia said there was no admission of fault ineither case, although the city’s insurance company has paid $85,000 so far insettlements.

“We fully believe that had this case gone to trial our officers and departmentwould be fully vindicated,” he stated a media release after the firstsettlement last year. “Unfortunately, the costs of winning a case is sometimesnot the best economic decision.”

Like PGPD and CCSO, Vespia said biting, and suspect apprehension in general, isa tool the North Port officers have at their disposal but rarely use. Of theapproximately 78,000 total calls the department responds to in a year, suspectapprehension is used for a dozen or less. Of the apprehensions this year, onlyone involved biting. The suspect was a man who was “whacked out on something”and trying to break into the home of a family with a child.

Vespia said the department is continuously reviewing its policies to ensurethey are following best practices.

Although Coel was found to have technically followed Punta Gorda’s K-9 policyduring Spirit’s biting incident, the department chose to change its policies onwhen and where a K-9 should be deployed after the event.

Now, the city is choosing an even more benign direction. The two new dogs thecity plans to purchase will be kid-friendly breeds, such as golden retrieversor Labradors, who can be taken into schools for drug prevention education,where they can interact with kids.

According to Lewis, Spirit’s patrol training makes him unsuitable for suchvisits.

The new dogs are estimated to cost up to $1,000 — a much lower cost thanSpirit, who was purchased with a donation of $7,000.

Although costs for K-9s vary based on the dog’s training and the agency’srelationship with the kennel or shelter where the dog comes from, the AmericanSociety of Canine trainers estimates purchase costs at $10,000 for a patrolcanine and $2,500 for a narcotics canine. PGPD currently has enough moneybudgeted to cover the initial estimated costs for each team.

Additional recurring expenses will be funded with grant money and through thecity’s general fund.

With all the possible injuries, lawsuits, and high costs, some might wonder whyK-9s are used at all.

According to Doherty and Vespia, the dogs’ primary benefits are safety andskills.

The dogs can go into unknown situations without putting officers into potentialdanger.

They can run 30 to 35 miles per hour — faster than even an Olympic athlete.

“There’s no one that’s going to outrun him,” Doherty said.

Most of all, the dogs have good noses.

“Whether to identify illegal narcotics, or track those that are lost andendangered,” Vespia said. “Apprehension, though it is also used, is not themajority of the time we use them. The majority of the time, it is for theirnose.”

For Doherty, K-9 teams also represent an unbreakable bond, forged through the640 hours of training to become a true team.

“The dog becomes a part of the family, as far as the personal relationship ofit,” he said. “The human part, the handler is the thinking part of therelationship and the dog has his inherent skills that he brings. The blendingof the two — to see what the product starts off with on day one and at the endof the 640 hours — it’s a very rewarding experience to see the progression youboth make. It’s by far the most rewarding thing I’ve had the opportunity todo.”

Email: aeasker@sun-herald.com

[Stephanie Gibson]

NorthPort Police Chief Kevin Vespia said there was no admission of fault in eithercase, although the city’s insurance company has paid $85,000 so far insettlements.

I think this isunderstated but need to look back.. I thought there were two $85K settlementsand another around $50K. Two othersheaded to trial..

“Wefully believe that had this case gone to trial our officers and departmentwould be fully vindicated,” he stated a media release after the firstsettlement last year. “Unfortunately, the costs of winning a case is sometimesnot the best economic decision.”

We also believelying and painting glitter PR stories will change the facts and hard done too!

LikePGPD and CCSO, Vespia said biting, and suspect apprehension in general, is atool the North Port officers have at their disposal but rarely use. Of theapproximately 78,000 total calls the department responds to in a year, suspectapprehension is used for a dozen or less. Of the apprehensions this year, onlyone involved biting. The suspect was a man who was “whacked out on something”and trying to break into the home of a family with a child.

More pertinent would be providing the Bite Ratios of the calls that the K9s were used on..using the Total Calls is quitemisleading in attempts to minimize. Somebodyelse is ‘whacked out son something’..

Vespia said the department is continuously reviewing its policies to ensure they arefollowing best practices.

Reviewing is notrevising and improving.

“Whether to identify illegalnarcotics, or track those that are lost and endangered,” Vespia said.“Apprehension, though it is also used, is not the majority of the time we usethem. The majority of the time, it is for their nose.”

The dog brought tothe scene when we were initially searching for Joe wasnt nose trained. I took the officer a sweatshirt from the truck and was told he isnt ‘that kind of dog.’ He could only indicate if someone was in the area. I’m very thankful he couldn’t find Joe, in retrospect.

Open Question for a serious reply:
When the K9 has the suspect in his teeth, how do they not thrash and freak out? I mean it is natural to scream fight and struggle against the undeniable pain of being in the Dogs grip. I dont know that I could go still if i was being chewed on either?

[Unregistered]

NorthPort Police Chief Kevin Vespia said there was no admission of fault in eithercase, although the city’s insurance company has paid $85,000 so far insettlements.

I think this isunderstated but need to look back.. I thought there were two $85K settlementsand another around $50K. Two othersheaded to trial..

“Wefully believe that had this case gone to trial our officers and departmentwould be fully vindicated,” he stated a media release after the firstsettlement last year. “Unfortunately, the costs of winning a case is sometimesnot the best economic decision.”

We also believelying and painting glitter PR stories will change the facts and hard done too!

LikePGPD and CCSO, Vespia said biting, and suspect apprehension in general, is atool the North Port officers have at their disposal but rarely use. Of theapproximately 78,000 total calls the department responds to in a year, suspectapprehension is used for a dozen or less. Of the apprehensions this year, onlyone involved biting. The suspect was a man who was “whacked out on something”and trying to break into the home of a family with a child.

More pertinent would be providing the Bite Ratios of the calls that the K9s were used on..using the Total Calls is quitemisleading in attempts to minimize. Somebodyelse is ‘whacked out son something’..

Vespia said the department is continuously reviewing its policies to ensure they arefollowing best practices.

Reviewing is notrevising and improving.

“Whether to identify illegalnarcotics, or track those that are lost and endangered,” Vespia said.“Apprehension, though it is also used, is not the majority of the time we usethem. The majority of the time, it is for their nose.”

The dog brought tothe scene when we were initially searching for Joe wasnt nose trained. I took the officer a sweatshirt from the truck and was told he isnt ‘that kind of dog.’ He could only indicate if someone was in the area. I’m very thankful he couldn’t find Joe, in retrospect.

Open Question for a serious reply:
When the K9 has the suspect in his teeth, how do they not thrash and freak out? I mean it is natural to scream fight and struggle against the undeniable pain of being in the Dogs grip. I dont know that I could go still if i was being chewed on either?

With all the spin and mis information given by the administration we need to look no further than the facts, Bush relieved of K9 duty, dog retired, maligator, name speaks for itself. Long relieved of K9 duty. Officer transferred from Venice K9 to NPPD, had troubled past in Venice, seems to adjusted in NPPD. At one time NPPD had four active K9 handlers, now have one. Accountability, who is accountable for these officers actions????. The K9 lawsuits, obviously Vespia thinks we believe what he utters, well Kevin you kind of lost all credibility with your just a nip comment. In all the lawsuits filed, the city or its insurance company is taking a grave risk in going to Tampa for trial. The entire dept and its history under Vespia will be on trial !!!!! Don't not forget they settled for 35 and 50 grand PLUS CONSIDERATIONS, what did that cost us. They settled, not matter how it is worded it is a admission of guilt.