It is important to recognize that the role of public safety in our society is to ensure that individuals and communities are protected from harm and danger. This includes preventing crime and violence, responding to emergencies and natural disasters, enforcing laws and regulations, and promoting safety and security in public spaces.
To achieve the goal of public safety, governments and communities must work together to create effective policies and programs that address the root causes of crime and violence, provide adequate resources and training for law enforcement and emergency responders, and foster a culture of safety and cooperation among citizens.
Unfortunately, some members of the Public Safety Committee don’t feel the same way and took another step to make our state less safe. They passed a bill that would restrict the use of police canines by law enforcement. If this bill is signed into law by Governor Newsom, it will make law enforcement’s job even more difficult by taking away a valuable tool that law enforcement relies on to safely do their job.
WHAT IS AB 742?
AB 742 prohibits the use of canines by peace officers for arrest and apprehension, or in any circumstances to bite a person, but permits their use of canines for search and rescue, explosives detection, and narcotics detection
Some examples of uses that would be banned would be the following:
- Prevent the use of police canines for the purpose of arrest, apprehension, or any form of crowd control.
- Prohibits a peace officer from using an unleashed police canine to arrest or apprehend a person.
- Prohibits a police canine from being used for crowd control at any assembly, protest, or demonstration.
A Bad Bill That Would Make Our Streets LESS SAFE
Simply put, this Is bad legislation. In fact, over forty California law enforcement agencies including the Riverside Sheriffs’ Association and the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs OPPOSE this bill
It Is time to stop empowering those who break the law and protect law-abiding citizens. We need to do MORE to keep our neighborhoods safe, not make it easier for criminals to break the law.
We need to protect our K-9 officers and stop AB 742!