* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Conaway
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Police Actions - Treatment of Dogs
FOR the purpose of requesting the Baltimore Police Commissioner to report to the City Council on the treatment of dogs during police response to citizens’ calls for assistance, service of arrests warrants, or the execution of raids for drug-related and other criminal activities.
body
Recitals
In July 2008, police mistakenly raided the home of the Mayor of Berwyn Heights, a small town in Prince Georges County. The raid, a result of a botched distribution scheme the Mayor had no connection to, made headlines around the world, not only because the victim was a sitting Mayor, but because police killed the Mayor’s two pet Labradors. One dog was shot four times, the other twice, once from behind as the dog fled.
Media reports of the incident included quotes from the police that what had been done was “standard operating procedure”. The public was made aware that the shooting of dogs by police has become disturbingly common across the country. Dogs in a Deadly Crossfire, The Daily Beast, July 19, 2009, reports that officials of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals sees 250 to 300 incidents per year in media reports and estimates another 1,000 aren’t reported.
SWAT Gone Wild in Maryland, Reasononline, July 13, 2009, reports that in November 2007, Prince George’s police raided the wrong home of a couple in Accokeek. Although the couple presented the police with evidence that they were at the wrong address, the police detained them at gunpoint. The couple asked the police if they could bring their pet boxer in from the backyard. The police refused. Moments later, the police shot and killed the dog.
The public outcry against such incidents in which family pets were harmed or killed led to the passage of state legislation. The 90 Day Report: A Review of the 2009 Legislative Session – beginning January 1, 2010, a “law enforcement agency” that maintains a SWAT
team must report the following information to the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP) and the appropriate county or municipal governing body, on a biannual basis:
• the number of times the team was activated and deployed by the law enforcement agency in the previous six months;
• the name of the county and/or municipality and zip code of the location where the team was deployed for each activation;
• the reason for each activation and deployment;
• the legal authority, including type of warrant, if any, for each activation and deployment; and
• the result of each activation and deployment.
A summary of the biannual reports must be prepared each year by GOCCP and submitted
to the Governor, the General Assembly, and each law enforcement agency by September 1.
Baltimore City is home to many dog-lovers. Service providers estimate that there are nearly 15,000 beloved canines that are loyal members of countless households. It is our duty to protect these friends that cannot protect themselves. To that end, the Council will undertake a review of police policy when dealing with households that could possibly harbor guilty humans – but are not likely to harbor canine occupants deserving of the death penalty.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the Baltimore Police Commissioner is requested to report to the City Council on the treatment of dogs during police response to citizens’ calls for assistance, service of arrests warrants, or the execution of raids for drug-related and other criminal activities.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to Mayor, the Baltimore Police Commissioner, the Director, Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, the Baltimore Health Commissioner, and the Mayor’s Legislative Liaison to City Council.
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