Current through Register Vol. 24-06, March 15, 2024
(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.
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.
