B.C. man awarded $60K after police dog attack without warning

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A man bitten by a police service dog without warning and within 10 seconds of police arriving at his home to arrest him for alleged domestic assault has been awarded $60,000 in damages in B.C. Supreme Court.

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The plaintiff was awarded $20,000 for loss of income, and $40,000 for pain and suffering from B.C.’s solicitor general and the federal attorney general, according to a judgment after a 20-day trial in Abbotsford. The decision doesn’t include where the man resides or which police department was involved.

The man had alleged assault for the March 8, 2020 incident, and liability depended on whether the officer and handler of the police dog — identified only as Cpl. Carey — had complied with the Criminal Code during the arrest, Justice Michael Thomas wrote.

Thomas referenced the 911 call that Carey’s partner made to determine that police moved too quickly when they released the dog.

When Carey’s partner, identified as Const. Steeves arrived, they were told the plaintiff was in the barn in the yard and that there was a domestic dispute in progress. It was alleged the man grabbed his partner’s wrists, dragged her out of bed by her ankles, threatened her, used a knife to damage her vehicle, rammed her brother’s truck with his truck, then returned to the house and was screaming, smashing and throwing things at her, according to the judgment.

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He also threatened his partner’s brother and to smash her cat with a sledgehammer, Thomas wrote.

Thomas said “they correctly perceived” the man posed a risk of “grievous bodily harm or death.”

Carey had the dog on a long leash. Steeves pointed a gun at the man and told him he was under arrest. The man complied with police orders to put his hands over his head.

The officers ordered him to lie on the ground but he stayed on his knees with his hands up and “appeared calm and non-violent throughout.”

“There was nothing preventing the officers from moving a further five to 10 feet away” if they needed more space, Thomas wrote.

The 911 summary noted that 16 minutes into the call, the officers entered the yard, and 14 seconds later they told the operator they had the man on the ground.

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Cpl. Carey was beside Const. Steeves and interacted with the man for “approximately 10 seconds before releasing the (police service dog),” Thomas wrote, noting that Carey said it was standard practice to warn a suspect before releasing the dog but he didn’t remember if he did. Thomas concluded he did not.

The judge also wrote that Steeves, in his report of the incident, described the man’s behaviour as “passive resistance.”

But at trial Steeves changed that to a risk of “grievous bodily harm or death.”

“In my view, Const. Steeves changed his evidence in an attempt to support Cpl. Carey’s evidence,” Thomas wrote.

“I do not accept that Cpl. Carey felt there was a threat of imminent harm or death to himself or Const. Steeves” because Steeves had his gun pointed at the man, Thomas said.

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Three use-of-force experts testified at trial, one of whom said “the situation would have been best handled by waiting, communicating and building rapport.”

Thomas also wrote it was “understandable” Carey was focused on an arrest given the information provided by 911 dispatch, but “he erred in rushing to try to facilitate a quick arrest … the situation called for further communication and attempts to de-escalate” before releasing the dog.

The man needed treatment to close the three wounds in his right forearm. He recovered use of his arm and returned to work full-time as a welder.

In assessing non-pecuniary damages, Thomas considered the man’s age (47), nature of the injury, severity and duration of the pain, disability and affects on work and recreational activities.

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