(1) Canine teams
working in the state of Washington shall be certified to the adopted standards
as set by commission policy.
(a) The standards
shall be maintained by the commission and readily available to the
public.
(b) These standards include
the minimum performance standards for canine teams performing specific law
enforcement or corrections functions.
(c) As a condition of certification, each
handler must ensure that the canine performs to a level that is deemed
acceptable by the commission in the category for a team's intended
use.
(2) An evaluator
shall be appointed by the commission to perform the testing of the canine
teams.
(a) The qualifications to become an
evaluator for canine certification shall be outlined in the evaluation policy
adopted by the commission.
(b) In
evaluating the proficiency of a canine team, evaluators shall use the standards
approved by the commission for that particular discipline.
(c) Each certification issued pursuant to
these rules will remain valid as set forth in commission policy, as long as the
composition and responsibility of the canine team does not change.
(d) A canine team's certification shall
automatically expire if the specific handler and canine, originally paired at
the time of certification cease to perform canine team functions together or if
the function for which the team was certified changes.
(3) This process is not related to and does
not change the requirements for officer certification.
(4) Nothing in these rules is intended to
limit the use of canine teams employed by other state or federal agencies for
law enforcement purposes, or the use of volunteer canine teams where the
handler is not a Washington officer.
(5) Certified canine teams shall have the
knowledge and ability to comply with the canine model policy established on
December 28, 2021, pursuant to section 3, chapter 320, Laws of 2021. This model
policy provides the following:
(a) Canine
certification training requirements - Set forth in the commission canine
training policy;
(b) Considerations
of canine deployment;
(c)
Appropriate canine deployment;
(d)
Strategies for minimizing law enforcement canine bites;
(e) Circumstances where a canine handler
should consider the use of tactics other than deploying a canine;
(f) Prohibited use of a police
canine;
(g) Use of canines to
apprehend suspects;
(h) Agency
canine team reporting protocols;
(i) Circumstances that would warrant the
decertification of canine teams; and
(j) Circumstances where the use of voluntary
canines and canine handlers may be appropriate.
(6) To report a use of force as outlined in
the canine model policy, canine teams should follow the guidelines set forth in
WAC
139-06-020.
Notes
Wash. Admin. Code §
139-05-915
Amended by
WSR
17-01-059, Filed 12/14/2016, effective
1/14/2017
Amended by
WSR
17-10-055, Filed 5/2/2017, effective
6/2/2017
Amended by
WSR
22-13-075, Filed 6/9/2022, effective
7/10/2022
Statutory Authority:
RCW
43.101.080. 05-20-029, §
139-05-915, filed 9/28/05,
effective 10/29/05; 05-01-114, §
139-05-915, filed 12/15/04,
effective 1/15/05; 03-07-100, §
139-05-915, filed 3/19/03,
effective 4/19/03; 00-17-017, §
139-05-915, filed 8/4/00,
effective 9/4/00. Statutory Authority:
RCW
43.101.080(2). 86-19-021
(Order 1-B), §
139-05-915, filed
9/10/86.
