Los Angeles, CA – Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA) Director of Animal Cruelty Investigations, Lieutenant Cesar Perea, was recently tapped by the U.S. Department of Justice to participate in their “Law Enforcement and Canine Encounters” Forum, presented by the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office in partnership with Strategic Applications International (SAI) in Washington, D.C. on September 21, 2016.
Lt. Perea served as one of a small group of subject matter experts on how law enforcement can best interact with canines in the course of duty. spcaLA offers the only California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST)-certified course concerning law enforcement and canines, called “Dog Behavior for Law Enforcement,” developed by Lt. Perea and spcaLA Director of Animal Behavior and Training, Eleasha Gall, CPDT-KA.
“After they take the spcaLA course, officers can affect more positive outcomes involving family dogs – like reducing the number of deadly force incidents, and recognizing behaviors that may avoid the need for force,” said spcaLA President, Madeline Bernstein.
“Dog Behavior for Law Enforcement” is the first of its kind, and was created to address the specific needs of law enforcement. It is reinforced with the most current and credible information available from an array of recognized, respected leaders in animal science fields, and teaches the officers to assess a credible threat, and to use the equipment they have available.
spcaLA debuted its “Dog Behavior for Law Enforcement” course in January of 2015 when the agency educated the officers of the Hawthorne Police Department. Since then, Lt. Perea and Ms. Gall have taught the course to officers all over the State.
spcaLA is administering its POST-certified, State Humane Association of California (SHAC)-approved course to law enforcement professionals from municipal, state, and federal agencies today in Torrance, CA.