Man bitten by HSPD K-9; officer, dog disciplined
A Hot Springs police K-9 who reportedly bit a man by accident during a non-crime 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 partner, Bear, were jogging around 7:30 a.m. on June 8 when they encountered Adam Taylor in the 200 block of Malvern Avenue and Bear was startled
and inadvertently bit Taylor, police said in a statement released to The Sentinel-Record Tuesday.
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, “Due to the angle and distance of where Taylor was positioned behind the corner of a building it is believed Bear did not see him until he was in very close proximity causing a startle response in both Taylor and Bear and the subsequent bite. Bear was on a leash but Smith was unable to react quickly enough to keep him from reaching Taylor.”
Smith immediately identified himself and Bear as members of the police department and summoned medical attention and his supervisors to the scene. The HSPD ensured Taylor “received proper medical attention for his injury and a supervisor spoke directly to him to gather all the details,” the statement said.
The HSPD “regrets this incident occurred and we wish Mr. Taylor a full recovery from his injury. We feel this was an isolated incident with Bear as he has spent numerous hours around other officers and in public settings without issue,” the statement said.
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, he said an incident such as this would trigger disciplinary action because the officer is responsible for the K-9 at all times, even when they’re off duty.
“In this limited situation, because that officer is assigned to be the custodian of the K-9,” he said. “There’s additional compensation associated with K-9 controllers. Part of their duties are to keep the animal with them at all times and provide for their care and supervision.”