The organization made the records request to examine potential injuries and deaths caused by police dogs.IMAGE: Pexels
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California is suing the city of Fresno for failing to provide public records about police dogs in noncompliance with the state’s Public Records Act, reports Courthouse News Service.
The organization made a records request to examine "disfiguring injuries and deaths" caused by police dogs, expressing concern about the city's disproportionate use of the dogs on communities of color, the article reported.
“In 2021, injuries caused by police canines accounted for nearly 12% of police use-of-force cases that resulted in severe injuries or death,” the ACLU reported in its petition filed in Fresno County Superior Court.
According to the report, the ACLU alleged a considerable number of these attacks were directed toward unarmed individuals and often occurred because police officers could not control their dogs.
The ACLU has documented accidental attacks involving canines in Fresno, which have affected a bystander, a child, and a police sergeant, the report said.
In March 2023, the ACLU filed a Public Records Act request with Fresno for use-of-force forms involving police K-9s, records of bites and injuries, and information on incidents resulting in death or serious bodily harm caused by police dogs, according to the article.
The article reports that the ACLU received 76 use-of-force reports from 2019 to 2022, but none from 2021, on June 2, 2023.
However, the article shares the documents lacked details about the incidents, injuries received, deputies involved and disciplinary actions. Most of the reports had redactions, making it impossible to know what was removed and why, Courthouse News Service reports.
Fresno cited multiple reasons for the redactions, including attorney-client privilege, attorney work product, right to privacy, unwarranted invasion of privacy, and the investigatory records exemption, the article noted.
When the ACLU followed up, the article said the city reported it considered the Public Records Act request closed.
The ACLU petition asks a judge to require Fresno to fulfill the records request, the article reported.
