Police dog at the Police Dog Training Centre. Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
The actions of a police dog handler who got his dog to bite a man resisting arrest has been found to be unjustified by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA).
Three officers, including the dog handler, responded to a complaint of men arguing on a Whanganui street corner at 2am on 19 March, 2022.
One of the men - acting aggressively towards police and resisting arrest - had a dog released on him, which bit him on the upper arm. He was referred to in the report as 'Z'.
At one point while being apprehended, he suffered a broken ankle while falling to the ground.
The IPCA could not identify how it happened, but noted no warning was given and the use of the dog was excessive while he was on the ground and unlikely to escape arrest.
"Considering there were two officers already handling Z, and he was on the ground, we consider the use of the police dog to bite Z was excessive," said IPCA chair Judge Kenneth Johnston, KC.
"Dog bites can cause serious injuries and we believe police could have completed the arrest without inflicting a bite injury."
It did however find their use of force with a police dog towards a second man was justified.
During the arrest, the second man ran towards the dog handler in an aggressive and threatening manner. Despite being warned to stop, he continued to charge towards the handler, leading to the dog being released and biting him in the process.
He managed to break away and ran off.
In response to the report, Central District Commander Superintendent Scott Fraser said this was a fast-moving situation where attending staff felt there was a risk to their safety.
"Every day, our staff are required to make decisions in an instant, with the goal of keeping the public and themselves safe, which was the aim in this instance," Fraser said.