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Local community organizations are requesting the U.S. Department of Justice investigate a police dog mauling case from 2020, according to a press release by the Greater Lafayette Committee for Criminal Justice reform.<\/p>\n
Richard Bailey, 46, a Black Lafayette resident, was \u201cmauled by a police dog while being arrested for suspected battery,\u201d on May 9, 2020, the Associated Press reported.<\/p>\n
“The police officers responded to an emergency call to our 911 center, where it was reported that a man had battered multiple people, including throwing a woman across the room,\u201d Lafayette Police Department Chief Patrick Flannelly said, according to local reporting.<\/p>\n
Lafayette police officer Joshua Saxton\u2019s dog mauled Bailey at the neck for 30 seconds, puncturing his trachea, cutting his carotid artery, damaging the tissue in his neck, injuring his shoulder and breaking his finger, according to local reporting.<\/p>\n
After three prosecutors reviewed the charges on the police officers, it was concluded that they were not at fault and Bailey was charged with 11 different counts: criminal confinement, battery with a deadly weapon, battery with moderate injury, strangulation, intimidation, resisting law enforcement, interfering with reporting a crime, criminal mischief, public intoxication and two counts of battery, according to court document access site MyCase.<\/p>\n
Since then, the Greater Lafayette Committee for Criminal Justice Reform has been working on finding a way to bring change and learn about the DOJ. Frank Rosenthal, group member and a professor in the department of health and kinesiology, said they\u2019ve been working on ensuring the DOJ request was phrased accurately and clear to the audience.<\/p>\n
The Greater Lafayette Committee for Criminal Justice Reform is an ad hoc group that was formed after the case in an attempt to ensure accountability for the incident, Rosenthal said.<\/p>\n
This group consists of 10-20 community members who are all interested in this issue, Rosenthal said.<\/p>\n
A letter detailing what needs to be addressed in the investigation was included in the press release. Some points include releasing the body cam evidence of excessive force and the flawed investigation by the first special prosecutor.<\/p>\n
The group wants \u201caccountability for this incident\u201d and \u201cchange in policies in LPD,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe letter (requests) the DOJ to investigate this incident asserts that the police officers violated Bailey\u2019s civil rights protected under the U.S. Constitution by the Fourth Amendment, prohibiting \u2018unreasonable searches and seizures\u2019 and the Fourteenth Amendment requiring \u2018due process of law\u2019 and \u2018equal protection of the laws,\u201d the letter reads.<\/p>\n
Rosenthal said police dog bites are of \u201cnational significance\u201d and it \u201chappens all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter points to a high rate of police dog bites in Lafayette compared to other cities, as well as a national study that shows that African Americans are disproportionately the victims of police dog bites.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were an estimated 32,951 K-9 dog bite emergency department visits, accounting for 1.1% of all ED dog bite visits,\u201d according to a 2019 study by PubMed, an archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature by the U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe K-9 group was nearly all male (95.0 vs 52.1%) and more commonly Black (42.0 vs 13.0%) compared to the non K-9 group.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indiana State Rep. Chris Campbell and nine other community groups signed the letter.<\/p>\n
LPD said Wednesday their public information officer wasn\u2019t available for comment. Campbell did not immediately respond to comment Wednesday night.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n