Suspended after errant bite, police dog almost set to return

HOT SPRINGS — A police dog that bit a man during a noncrime-related incident earlier this month should be able to return to duty, City Attorney Brian Albright said Tuesday.

K-9 officer Jonathan Smith and his dog partner, Bear, were jogging around 7:30 a.m. June 8 when they encountered Adam Taylor in the 200 block of Malvern Avenue, police said Tuesday in a statement released to The Sentinel-Record. Bear was startled and bit Taylor, according to the statement.

Bear “was immediately suspended from duty until a full supervisory review of the incident could be conducted which resulted in disciplinary action against Smith and steps to mitigate any issues like this in the future,” the statement said.

“I think [Bear] will be able to come back to work,” Albright told the newspaper. “They’ll do an assessment on the K-9 and make sure it doesn’t have any aggressive tendencies that are unnecessary for the health and safety of the citizens.

“The suspension is essentially the equivalent of an officer going on administrative leave.”

The statement noted that because of the angle and the distance from where Taylor was positioned behind the corner of a building, officials believe Bear did not see Taylor until he was in “very close” proximity to Smith and the dog. Officials believe Taylor’s proximity startled Taylor and Bear, which led to the bite.

“Bear was on a leash, but Smith was unable to react quickly enough to keep him from reaching Taylor,” the statement said.

Smith immediately identified himself and Bear as members of the Police Department, and summoned medical attention and his supervisors to the scene. The Police Department ensured that Taylor “received proper medical attention for his injury and a supervisor spoke directly to him to gather all the details,” the statement said.

The Police Department ” regrets this incident occurred and we wish Mr. Taylor a full recovery from his injury,” the statement read. “We feel this was an isolated incident with Bear as he has spent numerous hours around other officers and in public settings without issue.”

Albright said he didn’t know the nature of the disciplinary action taken against Smith and couldn’t confirm if Smith was off duty at the time of the incident.

In general, Albright said, an incident such as this would trigger disciplinary action because the officer is responsible for the dog at all times, even when they are off duty.

“In this limited situation, because that officer is assigned to be the custodian of the K-9, there’s additional compensation associated with K-9 controllers,” he said. “Part of their duties are to keep the animal with them at all times and provide for their care and supervision.”