POINTING FINGERS

Utah Senator: If Residents ‘Don’t Want to Get Bit’ by Police Dogs They Can ‘Stay Home’

“I don’t have a lot of sympathy,” the Republican lawmaker said.

Following a unanimous vote to consider legislation that would lay out best practices for law enforcement and their use of canine teams, Utah Sen. Don Ipson suggested that people could just “stay home” to avoid being attacked by police dogs, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune. “I don’t have a lot of sympathy,” the Republican lawmaker told colleagues on the law enforcement and criminal justice committee. “We don’t want to harm the public. But if they don’t want to get bit, stay home.” His comments come after a Salt Lake City audit recently revealed a pattern of abuse in how authorities use canines while trying to apprehend suspects. Ipson later apologized for “misspeaking” but said that police dogs are useful in law enforcement and that they should still be utilized. “I’m 73 years old. I’ve never been threatened by a K-9 dog,” the senator told the Tribune in his clarification. “If you don’t want to have a confrontation with a police officer or a K-9 dog ... you don’t break the law."