Juan Alanis, a former Stanislaus County Sheriff’s sergeant who was recently elected to the state Assembly, strongly condemned a new bill that would forbid police in California from using a canine to control crowds or to arrest criminals.

“I was very disappointed by the result of the vote,” said Alanis of the Public Safety Committee approving AB 742 on a party line vote. “AB 742 takes yet another important tool away from law enforcement to do their jobs. This bill makes everyone and every community less safe in California.”

He also expressed fears that if it becomes law “the unintended consequences … will lead to law enforcement having to use a higher level of force because it takes away yet another less lethal option for use of force.”

Alanis is the vice chairman of the Assembly Committee on Public Safety. He said it was “disappointing our colleagues in the majority did not take advantage of the vast amount of practical experience Mr. Lackey and I have.”

Alanis and Assemblyman Tom Lackey, cast the committee’s only two no votes. Six Democrats on the committee voted in favor of it.

Lackey is a retired career California Highway Patrol Officer.

AB 742 was authored by two Democrats, Corey Jackson of Perris and Ash Kalra of San Jose. Apparently the two are concerned that police canines bite people who either refuse to surrender to police or are noncompliant in crowd control.

If the bill passes into law, the only duties police canines could do is explosives detection, search and rescue, or narcotics detection.