MICHAEL O. ALLEN

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INMATE CLAIMS INJURY BY GUARD DOG; Attack in food protest charged

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Saturday, January 25, 1992

The Record (New Jersey) | One Star | NEWS | Page A04

A Bergen County Jail prisoner claims he was injured when he was subdued by a police dog during an inmate protest over food.

Another inmate said the prisoner was bitten by the officer’s dog, but Sheriff Jack Terhune would say only that he assumed the inmate was bitten, because he needed medical attention.

Inmate Gary Jones, 32, said in a call to The Record that he saw a guard dog bite Gregory Cannell on Jan. 11 during a melee that ensued when several inmates dumped their food trays in protest over the portions they receive at mealtime.

Terhune said Thursday that Cannell received medical attention after he was taken into custody with the assistance of the guard dog. Cannell, 26, of Union City, was then returned to an isolation cell because he and Howard Tucker, 19, of Newark, face a charge of assault on a law enforcement officer in the disturbance, Terhune said.

Cannell was one of several inmates who tried to push past a corrections officer into a hallway after about 10 inmates had dumped their trays, Terhune said. Several officers responded to the correction officer’s call for assistance, he added, declining to say whether anyone else was hurt.

Jones was one of five inmates who called The Record around midday on Jan. 11, before the disturbance later that afternoon, to say they were on a hunger strike in protest of their meal portions, and of general conditions. Jones reported the incident to The Record several days later.

The state Department of the Public Advocate, which is representing the jail inmates in a suit to reduce overcrowding at the jail, is looking into the incident and may have the inmates involved testify at a hearing next week.

Assistant Deputy Public Advocate Audrey Bomse said she was aware of the incident but had not received a report from either side. The charges of assault filed against the two inmates were not surprising, Bomse said.

“I’m not going to prejudge this. Sometimes that is the case, but sometimes it is also used as justification for the use of excessive force upon inmates,” Bomse said.

Keywords: BERGEN COUNTY; PRISON; ANIMAL; ASSAULT

Notes: Cut in late editions.

ID: 17366953 | Copyright © 1992, The Record (New Jersey)

January 25, 1992
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K-9 DOGS UNLEASH THEIR SKILL

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By Michael O. Allen, Record Staff Writer | Sunday, September 15, 1991

The Record (New Jersey) | All Editions | NEWS | Page A03

All systems were go as Rex, a Bergen County Jail patrol dog, prepared to search six white boxes in a Ridgefield Park field for a man hiding inside one of them.
The dog, a German shepherd, was restless panting and barking ceaselessly as he waited on a leash with his handler, Bergen County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Officer Ray Noll.
“That shows that he’s happy, he wants to go,” Noll said.
Rex and 18 other dogs German shepherds and Rottweilers from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania police and corrections departments were competing in the open division for trophies and certification in Saturday’s United States Police K-9 Association competition at Ridgefield Park Junior-Senior High School. In the novice division, 23 dog-and-handler teams are competing.
In continuing competition today, both divisions are to take part in apprehension drills. The Bergen County Sheriff’s Department and Ridgefield Park police are the sponsors and hosts of this year’s competition.
Donald J. Bartel, senior judge and a K-9 training instructor with the Smithsonian Institution, said the 42 teams, including seven from the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department, represented the largest field ever to compete in the event.
When used properly, dogs can be a more effective law-enforcement tool than firearms, Bartel said.
“We have a saying in K-9 that we can call our dogs back,” he said with obvious satisfaction at his own wisdom, “but you can’t call back a bullet.”
Rex, third last year in the open division, was running hard Saturday, scoring 109.6 points out of a possible 120 in obedience, 33 out of 60 in agility, and 66.8 out of 70 in article search. Then, to much yelping and barking and some cheers, and with three judges looking on, he sniffed out a “suspect” hiding in one of the boxes.
“He’s a totally sociable animal,” Noll said. “My family plays with him all the time.”

Keywords: ANIMAL; RIDGEFIELD PARK; CONTEST

Caption: PHOTO – STEVE AUCHARD / THE RECORD – Officer Ted Yarrish of the Passaic County Sheriff’s Department with Ryder, a canine member of the department, at K-9 dog competition in Ridgefield Park.

ID: 17355324 | Copyright © 1991, The Record (New Jersey)

September 15, 1991
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