A Fayetteville police officer seen punching his dog several times after a traffic stop is under investigation, Police Chief Kem Braden said.
The video posted to social media is about 12 seconds long. It shows a Fayetteville police officer punching his Belgian Malinois at least three times. As the officer tries to take the K-9 back to his patrol car, it looks like the dog sniped at him. That’s when he grabbed the K-9 by his snout and lifts him off the ground.
It’s a little hard to see in the video, but according to the police department, the K-9 was biting the officer. Police said the officer threw punches to get the dog to release. Fayetteville police released a statement Monday about the incident.
“The Fayetteville Police Department is aware of a video circulating of an interaction between a K-9 officer and his K-9,” the statement reads. “This incident is being investigated by our internal affairs office.
“We want to ensure to our community we take the concerns seriously and are taking all the necessary actions.”
WRAL News asked Shelly Dresser, a former K-9 handler for the Washington D.C. Police Department, if she was surprised the officer punched the dog to try to get it to release.
“No, there could have been a different way,” Dresser said. “Like, if he were wearing the right kind of collar … he could have pulled him off, but in that set of circumstances, your brain just reacts to what you need to do to protect your body and yourself.”
Dresser explained how her retired police dog named Mako got trained.
“He’s a bite dog,” Dresser said of Mako. “He is trained to take down and control a suspect on a calm, collective bite.”
Braden is asking anyone who witnessed the incident to contact his department at 910-433-1885.
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