Police K-9 handlers seek off-beat pay for dog care

Web posted September 13, 1998

By Michael Hill
Associated Press

GUILDERLAND, N.Y. -- Dutch tracked criminals, found missing children and sniffed out drugs.

When the frisky Rottweiler died this year, the Guilderland police force honored him with a memorial service, and the town supervisor declared that Dutch ``will always live in my heart.''

That was before they knew of Dutch's financial legacy. Canine overtime, you might call it.

After Dutch died, his handler, Officer Dean Spadaro, sued the Albany suburb for three years of back overtime for feeding, exercising and cleaning up after Dutch. Guilderland ended up paying Spadaro $28,850 in back pay and damages and $5,150 in legal fees.

It has happened elsewhere -- from Little Rock, Ark., to Norfolk, Va. to Fort Lee, N.J. Police canine handlers have for years used an obscure federal labor statute to sue their employers over dog care. In the aftermath, some surprised local officials have yanked their canine programs.

``No one realizes it's in the law. It's almost an anomaly,'' said Jim Connor, an attorney for the town of Hudson, N.Y., which ended its canine program after a lawsuit.

The legal handler for many of these dog handlers is Jeffrey Chamberlain of Albany, N.Y. The former counsel for the New York State Police has filed some 70 such lawsuits on behalf of canine handlers. Most are settled before trial, and he has lost only one.

``It's not unfair. You're asking a guy to do the work. You're supposed to pay him the money,'' Chamberlain said during an interview in his office. ``Most of the people on the city council have Fluffy the Pomeranian at home. All of their instincts are that it takes the same amount of time to take care of the police dog as it does for Fluffy the Pomeranian. That's just not true.''

Chamberlain argues that canine handlers literally take their work home with them, since the dogs usually live with them. He claims that extra time spent feeding, cleaning, training and grooming a piece of ``police equipment'' such as a dog can be construed as overtime work under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Even a game of fetch -- if it hones the dog's retrieval skills -- can legally entitle an officer to compensation, he said.

Courts have been inclined to agree, spurring a proliferation of lawsuits since the first reported case in the late 1980s. The law allows officers in some instances to sue for up to three years of back pay.

Officials with some towns and cities see the settlements -- coupled with the financial mandates of following the letter of the law -- as budget busters. Glenville, N.Y., dropped its program after settling for $26,000. Hudson Mayor Rick Scalera said the city dropped its canine unit after losing about $110,000.

Guilderland's canine corps died with Dutch, but town officials say they hope to get a new dog and keep the program going.

While few local officials quibble with paying canine handlers for extra work, quarrels arise over what the officers are entitled to. How much time should officers be credited for feeding? Exercising? Extra time on the way to work?

They have proved to be slippery questions.

``We kept on getting all these complaints about hours and hours to clean up after the dogs,'' said Tom Carpenter, an attorney for for the city of Little Rock, Ark., which lost a lawsuit filed by handlers in 1996. ``During the course of the trial, we found out some people weren't sleeping because they spent so much time with their dogs.''

In the end, many municipalities agree to award past overtime and accommodate their canine handlers. For instance, the New York State Police gives its canine handlers an additional three hours of straight-time pay each week. Wayne La Chappelle, longtime police canine handler for Bethlehem, N.Y., is scheduled for shorter shifts.

On a recent morning spent putting his German shepherd, Aaron, through body-search drills, La Chappelle lamented the bad rap the lawsuits are giving canine handlers. While he feels some of the suits have merit, other handlers ``get too greedy.''

Lost in the budget concerns is the invaluable service police dogs perform.

``How much is a life worth?'' La Chappelle asked. ``Or to keep drugs off the street?''