By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) deputy was fired and faces criminal charges after he left the K-9 officer in his charge inside his vehicle for several hours, causing the canine’s death.
The county lawman reportedly finished an overnight shift, went home and went to bed, with the animal still inside the ECSO patrol vehicle. When he awoke, he found the four-legged deputy’s body.
The human deputy, whose name has not been released, has not shown up on the Escambia County Detention Center jail roster, which indicates he has not yet been charged in connection to the death.
Mobile television station WKRG cited Sheriff Heath Jackson as the source of reports that the investigation into the death is ongoing and that results of the investigation will be turned over to District Attorney Steve Billy’s office.
If the former deputy is indicted on a charge of cruelty to animals, a Class A misdemeanor, and eventually found guilty, under Alabama law he could spend up to 364 days in the county jail and could be fined up to $3,000.
However, state criminal code also allows for a charge of cruelty to a police animal, which is a much more serious crime that carries much more severe penalties upon conviction.
According to Alabama Criminal Code Section 13A-11-15, “no person shall intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or with criminal negligence kill a dog used by police officers to perform tasks within the line and scope of said officer’s duties.”
A conviction on the Class C felony charge could bring a prison sentence ranging from 366 days (1 year, 1 day) to 10 years, and a fine of up to $15,000. However, if the conviction is the defendant’s first under this statute, he will be subject to a maximum sentence of not more than a year in the county jail and a fine of up to $3,000.
Jackson told the Mobile television station that ECSO’s canine officers are a key component of his office’s fight against crime.
“I want to express my heartfelt remorse for this incident,” Jackson told WKRG. “Our K9s are invaluable members of our law enforcement family, dedicated to serving and protecting our community. Their well-being is of utmost importance, and we take this situation very seriously.”
Atmore Police Chief Chuck Brooks wouldn’t comment on the ECSO situation. He explained, though, that city officials have allowed him to take steps designed to prevent such an incident from happening to the two canines put into service recently by city police.
“You don’t go to eat for an hour, or something like that, and leave a dog in the vehicle without making sure it’s OK,” he said. “We have spent a lot of money from our budget to keep anything like that from happening here. We will do everything in our power to make sure it doesn’t.”
Brooks reported that he spent $4,239 on a special alarm system for the vehicles from which APD’s newest officers operate. If the temperature inside the vehicle reaches a certain point, the system will let anyone within range know it.
“It has a siren that goes off, and it rolls the windows down,” he said. “It does a lot of things to keep something like [the sheriff’s office incident] from happening.”