VANCOUVER - A man whose leg was bitten by a police dog during an arrest has filed a lawsuit against the Vancouver Police Department and the department is being challenged to change its dog-training policy in keeping with some U.S. cities.
Christopher Evans, 33, was arrested last June with the aid of a police dog after he was suspected of smashing a window on a city bus with his skateboard.
He said in his statement of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court that the arresting officer used excessive force in unleashing the dog, which bit his upper right leg five times and tore a large gash that required about 100 stitches.
The Pivot Legal Society is representing Evans and has circulated photos of Evans' injured leg, which appears to have a massive tear.
"The nurse at the hospital told me it was amazing the dog didn't rupture my artery and kill me," Evans said in a statement issued by Pivot. "I know it was a stupid decision and I shouldn't have hit the bus but the repercussions were way overboard."
The construction worker is seeking unspecified damages for "assault and battery" leading to anxiety and loss of income for the two months he said he couldn't work and for numbness in his leg.
Pivot lawyer Doug King said the suit challenges the "bite and hold" method used to train police dogs and advocates for the less aggressive "bark and hold" system used by police forces in some U.S. cities, including Los Angeles and Cincinnati.
"The U.S. Department of Justice has really made known that they want all (police) departments in the states to change their level of training to this different type of training," he said, adding police across Canada continue to use the bite method.
Vancouver police spokesman Const. Lindsey Houghton said he could not comment on the case while it is before the courts.
King said Pivot is hoping to reach a settlement with the Vancouver Police Department involving a 2010 case after another man's torso was seriously injured when a police officer lost control of his dog during a routine interaction.
King maintained the two police officers who approached Evans could have commanded him to stop instead of unleashing the dog and that his client was able to hear their commands despite listening to music on headphones while he was skateboarding.
He said he's talked to two dozen people who've been bitten by Vancouver police dogs in the last two years and that deployment of the dogs is so routine that it's akin to how often Tasers were used before the harm they could cause came to light.
Pivot is appealing to the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner to investigate the high number of police dog incidents, although the Vancouver Police Board dismissed its concerns about a policy change, King said.
Statistics from the complaint commissioner's office show that from March 31, 2011 to Jan. 17, 2012, there were 91 dog bites reported by municipal police departments in B.C., said spokesman Dave Airey, adding 46 per cent of them involved serious injuries.
He said that of 71 police dog bites between March 2010 and March 2011, serious injuries accounted for 48 per of them.
In his statement of claim, Evans said the whole incident started just after midnight last June 12 after he was returning to his home from his sister's place and waiting for a bus.
He said that after two buses passed him by without explanation and another bus did not pick up any passengers, he became frustrated and struck the front of the bus with his skateboard but didn't cause any damage.
The driver of the fourth bus took on other passengers and pulled away without picking him up, Evans said in the claim.
"Again out of frustration the plaintiff struck the front door of (that) bus with his skateboard, causing the window to shatter," the claim said.
After boarding another bus and eventually riding into an alleyway on his skateboard, Evans was approached by a police dog that bit his lower right leg, the claim said.
"After the initial bite to the plaintiff's lower right leg the service dog released and then bit the plaintiff again on the upper right leg multiple times," the claim said, adding an ambulance was called to take Evans to hospital.
He was charged with mischief but in September, the Crown stayed the charge.
"Basically his charges were dropped after we submitted pictures of the injuries and told them that we were going to be filing a Charter challenge on the grounds that it was excessive force," King said.
"If really what you're out to do as a police department is arrest somebody and bring them to justice and if you use excessive force it's going to have the opposite effect because the Crown's going to be in a position where they have to stay the charges in the public interest."
The department's website says the police dog squad that began in 1959 is well known internationally and considered by many to be one the best anywhere.
"It doesn't necessarily mean the way that they're deploying the dogs is the best way," King said.
16 comments