{"id":414704,"date":"2024-10-14T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=414704"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"DPS-chief-takes-blame-on-initial-silence-in-death-of-K-9-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/DPS-chief-takes-blame-on-initial-silence-in-death-of-K-9-officers\/","title":{"rendered":"DPS chief takes blame on initial silence in death of K-9 officers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Anthony Macaranas is taking the blame for not immediately making public the tragic deaths of K-9 officers Beni and Boss after they were left inside a police vehicle that had its air-conditioning unit malfunction last Sept. 8.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am taking full responsibility for my action of not notifying the community. But from here on, I will continue to be transparent of what\u2019s been going on with this department,\u201d he said during a media conference last Wednesday at DPS Central in Susupe.<\/p>\n

He shared that since the incident, new policies have already been implemented such as K-9 handlers being required to check on their K-9 officers on the vehicles they left them in every 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

In regards to the two K-9 handlers of Beni and Boss, Macaranas said should they be sent back as K-9 handlers they will have to go through another training.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will continue to go back to training and hone their skills so they can be a handler. In that way, we can also implement the new changes in policies to them so that they can be more effective in caring for the well-being of the K-9 officers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Macaranas also said disciplinary actions would\u2019ve been initiated on the two K-9 handlers if DPS found that they neglected Beni and Boss.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in this instance, it\u2019s not their neglect that contributed to the death of the dogs. We made a thorough investigation so that way we can cover every avenue. And I assure the community that it was not the handlers\u2019 mishandling of the K-9s that caused their death. It\u2019s mechanical and I will continue to stick to that statement because we found that the vehicle (the A\/C unit) failed at a time when it should be working, when those dogs were in the vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked whether or not DPS plans to get more K-9 officers, Macaranas said there is a plan, but it won\u2019t be done anytime soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, we need to re-evaluate the program so that way we would not repeat this kind of incident again. That\u2019s the reason why we\u2019re not in a rush. We have two K-9 officers currently that are still working and we\u2019re taking steps so that those K-9 officers are well taken care of and the handlers will continue to be more adaptive to their practices as to taking the well-being of the canine dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Macaranas said that the hope is that the tragic deaths of Beni and Boss will not be repeated again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to continue taking full responsibility because I know how the program will come about. The program will never be a perfect program. There\u2019s going to be faults, but we\u2019re still going to have to take some sort of responsibility if those faults come about.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Anthony Macaranas during the media conference last Wednesday at DPS Central in Susupe.<\/p>\n

-CHRYSTAL MARINO
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