Editor’s Note: In this special Op-Ed for Tails of Connection, TOC contributor Kassidi Jones, reflects on National Police Dog Day and the white supremacist roots of U.S. K-9 units.

When you picture a police dog, what image comes to mind? Is it sniffing its way through the airport keeping a nose out for illegal substances? Is it chasing a perp down an alley? Does it have its teeth sunken into a bad guy’s leg? And more importantly, do any or all of these actions make you think of police dogs as heroes? As an abolitionist, when I think about police dogs, my heart feels heavy. White supremacist policing is so deeply ingrained in our society that even dogs are implicated in police violence. If you’re wondering what dogs have to do with racism, you might have some racial and class privileges to acknowledge. Today is National Police Dog Day, and I’d like us to take the opportunity to reflect on the long, winding, and unsurprisingly white supremacist roots of U.S. K-9 units. 

As members of a white supremacist institution, police dogs are unknowingly wrapped up in a centuries-long struggle between cops and marginalized communities.

From Ancient Civilization to the European Theater: How the War Dog Became the Police Dog

When American police departments began integrating dogs into the job in the ‘50s and ‘60s, they turned to the Europeans to figure out exactly how to weaponize them. And frankly, what is more human than the unending quest to figure out how to use something to hurt someone? As racial tensions and civil unrest grew in the states, police were searching for new and improved methods of controlling the people they were supposed to serve and protect. Early adopters of K-9 units imported dogs from all over Europe, and especially London, in an effort to mimic strict authoritarian policing they saw across the pond. Proponents of widespread police dog use evoked the “war dogs” used by great ancient civilizations overseas. They boasted the dogs’ potential to maintain law and order at home and abroad. And their propaganda worked! Departments started investing more money into K-9 units after seeing how effective they were at terrorizing regulating large (Black) crowds.

As racial tensions and civil unrest grew in the states, police were searching for new and improved methods of controlling the people they were supposed to serve and protect.

Think about the dog breeds you often see used in police work. Early police dog advocates selected German Shepherds specifically for the roles they played in World War I and II, sending messages and protecting soldiers. They picked a breed they knew to be aggressive but controllable, violent but loyal. Records show that in 1961, the Jackson, Miss. Police Department borrowed two dogs trained by a man who trained guard dogs for Hitler. Based on statements given by some of these early K-9 unit members, the dogs weren’t (and aren’t) treated exactly like partners, but rather like living, breathing, less-lethal guns. They were trained to follow their handlers’ commands without question. To create this kind of relationship, handlers were instructed to withhold affection and praise, anything that might make a dog comfortable enough to disobey. This is how K-9 units keep the boundary between pet and property.

Then and now, K-9s work as extensions of the police force, which means the faults of police departments implicate the dogs as well. If a racist cop disproportionately commands his dog to attack Black men, that dog is now a participant in a racist agenda, a racist system. The only thing the dog knows is to obey the person who has fed, raised, and trained it. As members of a white supremacist institution, police dogs are unknowingly wrapped up in a centuries-long struggle between cops and marginalized communities. And as that police-dog relationship is reinforced, the anti-cop and anti-dog sentiments that some members of those communities hold grows stronger as well. 

For Police Dogs, Their “Bite Out of Crime” is Rooted in White Supremacy

The other precursor to the modern American police dog is the “Negro dog,” aka dogs that enslavers used to track down Black people who escaped enslavement. These dogs, commonly Cuban bloodhounds, were trained to maim and disfigure the bodies of Black people who dared not to be owned. They were rewarded for their cruelty. There are records in the archives indicating that the dogs were literally fed Black and indigenous human flesh to induce their bloodthirst. Nineteenth-century newspapers printed articles about the best breeds for catching (read: hunting) “fugitives.” 

Fast-forward to the twentieth century and the scene is still grim. K-9 units protected white property from the threat of Black criminality in the 1950s. Civil unrest in the 1960s prompted the use of police dogs to control and intimidate crowds of protestors. As Civil Rights protestors took to the streets to stir up good trouble, police departments met them with fire houses and hounds, tools to intimidate the crowds into retreating. Leaders like Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X frequently warned Black and allied demonstrators about the threatening dogs they might encounter, and urged them to carry on despite their fear. And so the trend continued. Police departments never stopped using their K-9s to keep people, especially Black people, in line. Allegedly, in the 1980s, some LAPD officers referred to young Black folks as “dog biscuits.” 

As recently as 2015, the Department of Justice found that 100% of bites from the Ferguson Police Department K-9 Unit were inflicted on African American suspects. Some of those victims were children.

Fast forward to the 2000s, and the pattern of racial harm through the use of police dogs shows up in the data. A Police Assessment Resource Center report found that 89% of people bitten by LAPD canines from 2004 to 2012 were Black or Latinx. As recently as 2015, the Department of Justice found that 100% of bites from the Ferguson Police Department K-9 Unit were inflicted on African American suspects. Some of those victims were children. A 2006 study reported that compared to bites from non-working dogs, police dog bite victims were more likely to have multiple wounds, require hospitalization, and undergo surgery. In 2018, a 51-year-old man died in Alabama after being attacked by a police dog. These facts and figures only reveal the harm that canine units do during the arrest.

Did You Know Detection Dogs Are Notoriously Inaccurate? 

But what about the dogs that don’t have to bite to do damage? Prior to the arrest, a drug-sniffing dog can give the police probable cause to search a person’s car or home with impunity. And the data suggests that person is most likely to be a Black or Latinx man. This means that a police officer who might already hold a racial bias could pull someone over for some imagined traffic violation, bring his dog over to the car, and if the dog has any sort of reaction (genuine or cued by the officer), that cop suddenly has the right to violate that driver’s privacy. Now the trauma of the traffic stop, which is already a trigger for many POC, is intensified by the breach of personal space and rights. This bitter pill might be easier to swallow if the science were solid, but detection dogs are notoriously inaccurate. From 2007-2009, the detection dog accuracy rate was as low as 27% for Latinx drivers, according to a Chicago Tribune report. That means these searches are more often prompted by human bias than by a genuine dog detection.

A police dog is only as good as its training, and if a dog is being brought up in a system we already know to disproportionately disenfranchises Black and Brown folks, you can probably expect to see some of that racial bias in the performance of the dog.

And what if a police dog is in the process of attacking you? Most likely, your survival instinct will kick in, and you will try to defend yourself to survive. But depending on the outcome, that defense could land you in prison for up to 10 years. The 2000 Federal Law Enforcement Animal Protection Act dictates that a person can serve up to a decade in prison if they permanently disable, disfigure, or kill a police dog. Meanwhile, Black people across the country have to cross their fingers and pray that a police officer who kills a Black human being on camera gets convicted of a crime. It is important to remember here that the police are not supposed to be the judge, jury, and executioner, so even if somebody were committing a crime, they still have certain rights - including to not be mauled by a dog. 

I’d like to pause here to note that dogs are not racist. A police dog is only as good as its training, and if a dog is being brought up in a system we already know to disproportionately disenfranchises Black and Brown folks, you can probably expect to see some of that racial bias in the performance of the dog. Police canines are a part of a system with deeply racist roots, so it is not a giant leap to them becoming weapons of racial harm.   

Let’s Join Together to Let the Police Dogs Out  

Not only are police dogs costly to the physical and emotional wellbeing of many communities; they also potentially cost those communities financial resources that could have gone elsewhere. According to the National Police Dog Foundation, the average cost to acquire a police dog is $8,000, including their airfare from Europe. Training for patrol work and detection can cost $12,000 to $15,000 per dog. Not to mention that the training methods used to turn these animals into weapons are harsh, almost barbaric, and many retired police dogs suffer from anxiety and depression, preventing them from enjoying life after the job too. Though most of the money for police dogs comes from donations rather than taxpayer dollars, imagine how different the world would be if that kind of money was invested back into the communities that police claim require so much of their presence. What if we could invest $15,000 into playgrounds and community centers rather than another tool for police violence? I’d even accept investing that money into local animal shelters and rescues where those dogs might actually become companions for the community.  

If you’ve never thought about the dark side of police dogs, this reading may have made you uncomfortable. Good. If your instinct is immediately to throw out examples of where police dogs save the day instead of digesting what you’ve just read, my hope is that you’ll sit with this discomfort for a little bit longer and try to recognize the lived experiences of many other people in this country. I get that it’s “not all dogs,” but the problem is so much larger than K-9 units. So today, on National Police Dog Day, I’m celebrating by advocating for a world without them. I’m spreading the word about their lives and their history in hopes that one day the dogs can just be dogs, or at least have jobs that improve people’s quality of life instead of threatening them. I’m telling you about the specialized rescues looking for homes for retired K-9s (instead of the euthenasia most military working dogs faced until 2000). The time has come to free the police dogs, so that we can free the people most vulnerable to them.

Recommended Reading List

Hinkel, Dan, and Joe Mahr. “Tribune Analysis: Drug-Sniffing Dogs in Traffic Stops Often Wrong.” Chicagotribune.com, 5 Sept. 2018.

Riggs, Mike. “So Far This Year, L.A. County Sheriff's Dogs Have Only Bitten People of Color.” Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg CityLab, 9 Oct. 2013, 2:35 PM.

Wall, Tyler. "“For the Very Existence of Civilization”: The Police Dog and Racial Terror." American Quarterly, vol. 68 no. 4, 2016, p. 861-882. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/aq.2016.0070.