SECTION 1.

 (a) The use of police canines has been a mainstay in this country’s dehumanizing, cruel, and violent abuse of Black Americans and people of color for centuries. First used by slave catchers, police canines are a violent carry-over carryover from America’s dark past. In recent decades, they have been used in brutal attempts to quell the Civil Rights Movement, the LA Race Riots, and in response to Black Lives Matter protests. The use of police canines make makes people fear and further distrust the police, resulting in less safety and security for all, especially for communities of color.

(b) The use of police canines has severe and potentially deadly consequences for bite victims. In a Police Assessment Resource Center study of police canine bites, researchers found that bites resulted in hospital visits 67.5 percent of the time. In contrast, other uses of force, including batons and tasers, resulted in hospital visits 22 percent of the time or less. These same researchers found that police canine bites led to permanent physical disfigurement and injuries to bones, blood vessels, nerves, breasts, testicles, faces, noses, and eyes, sometimes causing blindness.

(c) Per the California Department of Justice Use of Force data from 2021, injuries caused by police canines accounted for nearly 12 percent of cases that resulted in severe injury or death. Of these cases, Black people are more than two times more likely than any other group to be subjected to this use of force.