California passes bill that would ban 'racist' police dogs from arrests, crowd control

California passes bill that would ban 'racist' police dogs from arrests, crowd control

FP Staff March 22, 2023, 14:41:51 IST

As per data, hospital visits were caused by police canine bites 67.5% of the time whereas they were caused by other forms of force, such as the use of batons and tasers, 22% of the time or less

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California passes bill that would ban 'racist' police dogs from arrests, crowd control

California: The Public Safety Committee of the Californian assembly has reportedly passed a bill which bans the police dogs from arrests and crowd control after it was alleged by the lawmakers that the dogs were being used for violence against black Americans and people of colour.

As per reports, the purpose of Assembly Bill 742 is to outlaw the use of police canines for crowd control, arrests, and other types of interception.

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The use of police dogs in search and rescue operations, explosives detection, and drug searches would not be prohibited by the law.

Democratic Assemblymen Corey Jackson and Ash Kalra proposed the bill, which is intended to “end a deeply racialized, traumatic, and harmful practice by prohibiting the use of police canines,” according to a statement from Jackson.

For centuries, the violent, cruel, and dehumanizing treatment of Black Americans and other people of color in this nation has been a mainstay of the use of police dogs.

AB 742 specifies. “Police dogs are a violent holdover from America’s violent history, first used by slave catchers.

They have been brutally employed in recent years in an effort to put an end to the Civil Rights Movement, the LA Race Riots, and Black Lives Matter demonstrations.

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The American Civil Liberties Union’s statewide campaign group ACLU California Action co-sponsored the legislation.

Carlos Marquez III, executive director of ACLU California Action, stated that the use of police dogs has serious and possibly fatal repercussions for bite victims, particularly communities of color.

“This bill establishes a new benchmark for California and represents a significant step toward ending this cruel practice.”

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Racist Canines The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) chapter in California and Hawaii (CA/HI NAACP) also contributed to the bill’s writing and emphasized its historical importance.

According to Rick L. Callender, president of the CA/HI NAACP, “Police dogs have roots in slavery and have been used as tools of oppression for Black, Brown, and other communities of color.”

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According to AB742, hospital visits were caused by police canine bites 67.5% of the time whereas they were caused by other forms of force, such as the use of batons and tasers, 22% of the time or less.

According to Jackson and Kalra, injuries caused by K-9s disproportionately impact Black people in America more than other racial groups.

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AB742 argues Black people are more than twice as likely as any other group to be subjected to this use of force.

Before being discussed on the Assembly floor, AB 742 will now be sent to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

According to reports, California would be the first state to implement this kind of limitation on the use of police dogs if it is approved by the Assembly and state Senate and is signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.

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