Attention: Law Enforcement Officers

Interacting with People Who Use Guide Dogs

Facts You Should Know

The purpose of this factsheet is to offer guidance to law enforcement officers on how to positively interact with people who are blind or visually impaired and who use guide dogs.

Who are guide dogs?

The term "guide dog" means a dog that is specially trained to guide a blind or visually impaired individual and on which that individual relies. Guide dogs are large breed dogs such as: German shepherds, Labrador retrievers, boxers, golden retrievers and Lab/golden crosses; they work throughout the United States, in Canada, and around the world. Law enforcement directives and Training materials should include the following terms to describe a guide dog: Guiding Eye, Leader Dog, Pilot Dog, and Seeing Eye; miniature guide horses are also used.

Guide dogs are gentle and kept under control by their handlers. They are trained to guide, not protect. In fact, dogs that show aggression are rejected from training programs. People who are blind or visually impaired and who use guide dogs consider their guides to be an extension of themselves. They are much more than a pet and more than a simple mobility aid. The bond between a guide dog and its handler is unique and unbreakable.

Normally, the training a guide dog receives takes almost two years to complete and costs $25,000 to $50,000 per guide. The guide dog in training first lives with a “puppy raising” family to accustom itself to life with humans. When it is about one year old, it is placed with a training instructor at a guide dog school. The instructor will not release the dog until it has successfully mastered its training. Generally, 50% of those dogs who begin training do not successfully complete it, so stringent are the requirements. Guide dog handlers also receive extensive training and must pass an almost one-month training course before receiving their dog.

Providing Law Enforcement Services To People Who Use Guide Dogs

Police officer interaction with people who use guide dogs is governed by federal disability rights law, notably the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA and other Federal disability rights law establishes that police officers are obligated to take emergency measures when they come into contact with people who are blind or visually impaired, should such persons need their assistance. Title II of the ADA details the specific obligations police officers have regarding people who use guide dogs and prohibits them from discriminating against these individuals in the course of providing police service to the public.

Police facilities that are accessible to the public must be made accessible to people who use guide dogs. If police officers respond to someone who uses a guide dog in a manner that constitutes a violation of the ADA, a police officer or a Department may be subject to legal action, as Title II of the ADA may be enforced through litigation brought by private individuals or by several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice. Moreover, private plaintiffs may be entitled to compensatory damages and reasonable attorneys' fees, in addition to injunctive relief.

Municipalities also may be liable under Title II of the ADA for failure to provide adequate training on how to properly interact with people who use guide dogs. Besides legal action, other consequences could result. These include unfavorable media attention and increased scrutiny from disability rights organizations and the public. Community relations could be negatively impacted if police officers are perceived as not appropriately responding to people who use guide dogs.

Essential information regarding guide dogs and the protection they are afforded under Title II of the ADA includes the right of people who use guide dogs to access places of public accommodation and the need for immediate and professional response to attacks by other animals on guide dogs. Because the ADA recognizes a guide dog as one which performs functions such as helping blind or visually impaired people to safely negotiate their surroundings, police officers may not refuse to assist someone who uses a guide dog or insist that the owner put the guide away as a prerequisite to receiving service. The guide dog is to be treated as an extension of the person.

Furthermore, separating a blind or visually impaired person from his or her guide dog will cause serious mobility problems. Therefore, in the event of a police intervention, such as a response to an emergency that requires a guide dog to be separated from its blind or visually impaired handler, police officers must take whatever special measures are needed to ensure that the handler’s safety is not jeopardized.

Police officers may be called to resolve disputes involving use of guide dogs in places of public accommodation; that is, places to which the public is invited. If law has been violated by denying a guide dog entry, police officers may be required to intervene. Knowledge of ADA requirements is therefore critical. People who use guide dogs are entitled to full and equal access to hotels and other lodging, resorts and places of amusement, and all other places of public accommodation, subject only to the conditions and limitations established by law, applicable alike to all persons.

People who use guide dogs are also entitled to full and equal accommodation, advantages, facilities and privileges of all common carriers: airplanes, motor vehicles, railroad and subway trains, buses, streetcars, boats, or any other public conveyances or modes of transportation. People who use guide dogs cannot be required to pay an extra fee for the dog. However, any blind or visually impaired person so accompanied shall be liable for any damage done to the premises or facilities by their guide dog.

Under Title III of the ADA, privately owned businesses such as restaurants, hotels, retail stores, taxicabs, theatres, concert halls, and sports facilities, are also prohibited from discriminating against people who use guide dogs. The ADA requires these businesses to allow these individuals to bring their guide dogs onto the premises in whatever areas customers are generally allowed. Disputes in which guide dogs have been denied access to public accommodations can often be resolved quickly if police officers are aware of what the ADA requires. Because guide dogs are not pets, they are exempt from "No Pets" policies related to public establishments.

ADA rights are enforceable even if local health regulations provide a more restrictive standard on animals in public places. Guests of public accommodations and their guide dogs may therefore not be restricted to certain areas. If a person accompanied by a dog claims that the animal is a guide dog, police officers may not ask the person for proof of his or her disability. The ADA does not require guide dogs to be licensed or certified by state or local government, and they are not required to wear any tags identifying them as guide dogs. However, many guide dogs do wear such identification, received during training.

Dos and Don’ts

Cultivate respect for guide dog handlers. Many guide dog handlers live and work in responsible positions throughout the United States and in other countries, as Foreign Service Officers, College Professors, Federal Officials, and Business Owners and Operators.

Always verbally identify yourself as a police officer when approaching someone who is blind or visually impaired.

Never pet guide dogs without permission. There is a special relationship between people who are blind and their dogs; the dogs are working animals that must not be distracted. Be aware that both dog and handler are likely to remain physically close during an interview. It is also likely that the handler will choose to keep their dog at their side, and restrained by the leash.

Under high stress encounters, it is likely that the guide dog will pick up on the handler's anxiety. This is not a precursor to the dog becoming aggressive, but a normal canine reaction to the situation. Holding out a hand, palm up, and allowing the dog to sniff, can serve to reduce the anxiety of all parties.

Some guide dogs also tend to react to people in uniform. While this is not always in an adverse manner, a "concerned curiosity" is fairly common on the part of the dog. Again, offering a hand to the dog, palm up, can calm the situation.

To avoid a perceived lack of accountability on the part of public officials, Departments should appoint a Special Needs Liaison to the force, someone whom police officers can contact for guidance when ADA and other disability-related issues arise.

Because police officers can face penalties of demotion or dismissal for unlawful use of deadly force against a guide dog, Departments should include instruction on effective interaction with people who use guide dogs in any training provided on cultural diversity and respect for differences. For this purpose, they should seek community volunteers to speak about the bond between the guide dog and its blind or visually impaired handler.

Resources You Can Use

Organizations that serve people with disabilities include:

The American Council of the Blind (ACB) www.acb.org and

Lighthouse International www.lighthouse.org

For training materials Departments can use, as well as for contact information for guide dog schools, contact Guide Dog Users Inc. (GDUI), www.gdui.org.

For a visual depiction of the interaction between dog and trainer and dog and handler, see “Harnessing Freedom”, a DVD available through the Seeing Eye, www.seeingeye.org.

Relevant publications include:

“Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 as amended.”

"Commonly Asked Questions about Service Animals in Places of Business," U.S. Dep't of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section, available at www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/animal.htm.

“First Response to Victims of Crime Who Have a

Disability", available from the U.S. Department of Justice, www.doj.gov.

“Safe Travel for Working Teams” videotape and a CD training tool for police officers, available through www.thebackup.com.

Several jurisdictions around the United States can serve as models on ADA compliance training:

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) has an extensive Disabilities Awareness Guide that provides information on ADA requirements and California disability rights law. This guide includes lessons on Interacting with people who are blind or visually impaired and their guide dogs, which address relevant ADA provisions and issues in a question and answer format.

SFPD also uses a videotape produced by the California Hotel and Lodging Association entitled “Responding to Service Animal Calls”. This informative videotape is ideal for helping police officers quickly understand basic information about complying with the ADA in situations involving people who use guide dogs.

Fresno, CA, has an ADA Advisory Council that provides guidance to city agencies on compliance issues. Some of its publications contain information about protecting the rights of people who use guide dogs.

Other police departments, such as Baltimore, MD, Oakland, CA and Seattle, WA, include information about guide dogs and other service animals that assist people with disabilities in their training materials and general orders.

Denise M. Decker, Ph.D. for the

Guide Dog Users Inc. (GDUI)

December 2007

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