GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Office of Oversight and Public Accountability is recommending new guardrails on how Grand Rapids police use K-9 officers following an officer-involved shooting earlier this year.
OPA Managing Director Brandon Davis presented nine recommendations at the city Public Safety Committee meeting Tuesday.
Davis says these recommendations could benefit the Grand Rapids Police Department's K-9 program and the community.
"I don't think any of the recommendations are a stretch. I think that the recommendations are achievable," Davis said.
The nine recommendations include:
- Classify canine apprehension as a use of force
- Narrow the canine apprehension threshold
- Establish vulnerable population protections
- Expand transparency and reporting
- Standardize warning language and documentation
- Mandate bite report review by Internal Affairs
- Clarify training methodology in policy
- Include demographic tracking in reporting
- Require supervisor approval before deployment
"One is to classify canine apprehension as a use of force. It's one of the strongest recommendations we're making. Again, that's in the written policy. We recognize the practice says some other things," Davis said.
Interim Chief Joe Trigg acknowledged the recommendations but said requiring supervisor approval could be difficult in fast-moving situations.
"If we think of the last incident we had on the West Side with the officer involved shooting, when that dog was deployed, that's happening fast," Trigg said.
Trigg pointed to the incident on Alpine Avenue, where a man threw a Molotov cocktail at a police cruiser and fled through the West Side in May.
"You've got a subject that's running through the backyards, he's armed with a knife, and he's jumping fences, and that's something, if an officer is rolling up on that, and it happens to be a canine officer, or canine is responding to assist, that has to be done quickly," Trigg said.
The 25-page analysis and review was called for by city leaders after a K-9 was used to apprehend Da'Quain Johnson in February. Johnson was shot and killed by an officer.
The Kent County Prosecutor did not pursue charges and considered the shooting justified.
Davis said he received strong support from Trigg and the department while working on the report.
The report also benchmarked what is written in GRPD policy versus what the department says it does in practice.
Davis noting GRPD is already going above and beyond compared to similarly sized cities. He said he wants to see those existing practices formally written into policy.
"I am hopeful to see all of these recommendations be adopted," Davis said.
Grand Rapids police plan to present more of their practices at the next public safety meeting next month.
The city is also hosting a community meeting Wednesday evening for residents to meet the four police chief candidates.
