Q-0400 Sheriff_s Canine Unit Responsibilities.pdf

Kern County Sheriff’s Office Policies and Procedures TITLE: SHERIFF’S CANINE UNIT RESPONSIBILITIES NO: Q-400 APPROVED: Donny Youngblood, Sheriff-Coroner REFERENCE: EFFECTIVE: March 1, 2021 REVIEWED: REVISED: UPDATED: Q-400 POLICY Due to the special relationship that is inherent in a canine team, the specialized training, and unique work environment that canine teams operate in, Sheriff’s canine handlers have a very important responsibility for the care, training, and proper deployment of their canine partners. In most cases, it is only the Sheriff’s canine handler who can and must control the actions of their respective canines. It is a violation of policy for any person to purposely agitate, tease, or distract a Sheriff’s canine, without the express permission of the assigned canine handler. Only the trained Sheriff’s canine handlers should attempt to command a Sheriff’s canine, except for canine staff for training purposes or an exigent circumstance such as a handler becoming incapacitated.