Probe confirms A/C malfunction in K-9 officers’ deaths

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Anthony Macaranas said an investigation confirmed mechanical malfunction on the car’s air-conditioning where two K-9 officers were left led to the Sept. 8 accidental deaths of Beni and Boss.

“Based on the overall findings, we found that the vehicle had developed mechanical problems that morning. The findings were made by a certified mechanic using a diagnostic instrument. Looking into the problems of the vehicle, we found that one of the errors that was found was connected to the proper function of the air-conditioning unit,” Macaranas said during a media conference at DPS headquarters last Friday.

When asked if the police cars were often checked and maintained Macaranas responded, “The officer performs a daily check on the vehicles. You know, that’s the standard practice for every officer is to check out the police vehicle. It’s beyond the officer’s ability to know if the vehicle, if that such component is problematic, because if it does, then, you know, we could’ve prevented this tragedy. So again, yes, the officer did a check on the vehicle prior before leaving the headquarters to perform their job.”

Macaranas added, “The officer assured that when they left the vehicle, the air-condition was properly running, the vehicle was secure so that nobody can tamper or open the door, and of course the vehicles…it’s an early morning, they went in to process their evidence and turn in everything and when they came out, and that’s what happened. So that’s the thing that I said earlier, that the problem of the vehicle was internally, that’s beyond the officer’s capability of finding if the vehicle was problematic.”

He also shared that the two K-9 handlers are currently undergoing counselling.

“This is, like I said, tragic. For all people that are [out there], I understand that they care and they love the dogs, but myself and the department, too, feel saddened with the loss of these two dogs.”

As current policies go, everything was followed by the two K-9 handlers, according to Macaranas.

“The two officers were then transferred over to patrol to continue their police work. But at the same token, they were going through counseling to help them cope with the loss of their partners. The transfer is not a means of discipline. It’s a means that they will return back to their normal duty because K-9 is a specialized unit. You need to be trained to be there, but they’re back there. But again, we’re still looking forward to the well-being of their health because of what has happened. But we will continue to look into the policies and the protocols of the K-9 [unit] so we can make more improvements and see what other avenues to prevent this tragic incident.”

Macaranas takes full responsibility for the incident and shared that as a department, DPS is currently seeking to change some policies to not only prevent the incident from happening again, but take better care of their K-9 officers.

“It’s part of the policy, again, we’re going to have to look in and see how can we enhance it more where now the dogs will be more freely moving instead of being inside the vehicle. That’s one of the policies we’re looking at to make any changes so that way we will not incur this kind of tragedy again. As far as the canine vehicle, there is a specific vehicle configuration for canine vehicle, which consists of a kennel-type vehicle with air-con on the window, temperature monitoring system inside the vehicle to include a water dispenser where you dispense water to have the dogs to constantly be drinking a lot of water. There was a plan, at one point, before the department back in 2022 that there is four to be procured. Unfortunately, for some reason, they did not proceed with that. So that left out that we’re using the regular patrol vehicles,” he said.

Macaranas said DPS is currently reviewing plans to procure the proper K-9 vehicles.

“Maybe we go back and reconsider getting those kinds of vehicles. But again, the vehicles that the K-9s are using now has both air-con in the front and in the rear. So, both were on at the time that this thing was happening.”

He also shared that this was the first K-9 fatality since the program began at DPS.

“The K-9 program started back in the 1990s. Unfortunately, the program itself did not succeed for some reason, and as a new commissioner came in, it didn’t follow up. So, I think they kind of shelved it for a while until former commissioner Robert Guerrero decided to open it up again. And it’s been carried on from him to former commissioner Clement [Bermudes], but we’re still hopeful that this program will continue on as long as we are finding ways how to improve it and make sure that it’s still an effective part of the police work in our community. We go beyond that to see what other policies that are in place that works for the police department, and we kind of adapt that to make it workable in our environment. But some of the policies that we’ve seen, some of these dogs, they work in different kinds of climates. So basically, we’re taking policies that will work within what we have, our climate setting into the design [of the K-9 vehicle].”

Macaranas also assured the public that he is going to fix the K-9 policies at DPS

“But again, I take responsibility for this and that’s the reason why we’re looking into the policies to make sure that we tweak it and we enhance it so that this kind of tragedy will not be repeated. Again, the loss of the two dogs is a tragedy to the department.”

K-9 officers Beni and Boss were about 4 years old when they passed, having served with DPS since 2021.