Urban lawmakers kill police dog bill

“In our nation’s history there has been very well documented historical photography of police dogs being used during peaceful protests that actually turns into dogs that attack people.” Rep. Bobby Gibson Jr., of Bloomfield

Urban lawmakers in the state House of Representatives successfully killed an effort to increase the penalties for intentionally harming police dogs, calling attention to how historically the canines have been used against people of color.

The bill, which previously passed the Senate unanimously, was abruptly withdrawn after about an hour of withering criticism late Wednesday night led by Rep. Chris Rosario, of Bridgeport, Rep. Bobby Gibson Jr., of Bloomfield, and Rep. Antonio Felipe, of Bridgeport.

“I do not see equity in this bill,” said Felipe, referring to the focus of the legislative session on communities of color who have long faced institutional racism.

“It is very interesting what we’re doing here today,” said Rep. Brandon McGee Jr., of Hartford, whose warning to leadership helped lead to the death of the legislation.

Gibson asked how the intent of defendants would be determined and whether the enhanced penalty could be used against peaceful protesters.

“In our nation’s history there has been very well documented historical photography of police dogs being used during peaceful protests that actually turns into dogs that attack people,” Gibson said, invoking images of K-9s attacking 1960s civil rights protesters. “It has also been very well documented that a lot of these dogs have ended up attacking people of color.”

If a peaceful protester was mistakenly attacked by one of these canines and tried to fight them off, Gibson asked, would he or she be subject to arrest?

That would depend on the “totality of circumstances,” said Rep. Maria Horn, D-Salisbury, cochairwoman of the legislative Public Safety Committee. “My colleague raises a good point that the issue of self-defense is not in the bill before us.”

The legislation would have made it a Class D felony, as opposed to Class C, to intentionally injure or kill a peace officer’s dog or a search and rescue canine — a change that some Democrats pointed out would exempt the crime from so-called clean slate legislation that passed the General Assembly. Class D felonies are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and up to $10,000 fine.

“Police K-9s are used on Black and brown people quite a bit and I don’t think that monetary (punishment) and that penalty is appropriate,” said Democratic state Rep. Anthony Nolan, a New London police officer.

Republican Rep. Greg Howard, a Stonington police detective and former K-9 officer, said in addition to helping law enforcement sniff out narcotics and track people down, the dogs are an important community relations tool for police.

“Police K-9s not only serve their communities but the communities around them,” Howard said. “They also serve as a very important tool for police officers to engage with young people and people in the community in general.”

The increased penalty would bring the crime in line with animal cruelty, which is a Class D felony for the first offense and Class C felony for the second offense, Howard said.

“This piece of legislation seeks just to up the ante a little bit on these dogs for the work that they do,” he said.