Prosecutors announced this week they will not file criminal charges in the death of Ozzy, a 6-year-old K-9 with the Long Beach Police Department, who died after overheating in a department-issued vehicle last year.

“On Aug. 11, LBPD received official notification that neither the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office nor the Long Beach City Prosecutor’s Office was filing criminal charges against Ozzy’s K-9 handler,” a statement from police read.

The D.A.’s office said it did not find enough support in the allegations of negligence, and so the office passed the case along to the city prosecutor, who agreed with the D.A.’s findings and did not file criminal charges.

“There is insufficient evidence of ‘criminal negligence,'” Assistant City Prosecutor Randall Fudge wrote in an email to the Long Beach Post.

He added that three prosecutors with over 40 years of legal experience among them independently reviewed the case. California Penal Code 597.7, which states it is illegal to leave a pet unattended in a car, were among the considered criminal charges looked at for the case, according to a city prosecutor’s document.

“All three separately came to the same conclusion, that there would not be enough evidence for a unanimous jury to conclude there was criminal negligence on the part of Detective [Chris] Thue,” Fudge wrote.

Following Ozzy’s death, police said they are reviewing “possible equipment or mechanical failures” with a cooling system built into the police car to avoid overheating.

The cooling system is not supposed to shut off unless it’s manually disabled, the LBPD said. In addition, handlers have apps on their phones that are supposed to alert them if their cars get too hot, according to an LBPD spokesperson.

Police said the alert system “may not have been working.”

Both Ozzy and his handler were off-duty at the time of the dog’s death, according to the LBPD.

Upon notifying the public of Ozzy’s death, the department said it launched an internal affairs investigation into the case on Aug. 27. Police declined to say whether the internal investigation was targeted specifically at the dog’s handler, who found him dead in his police vehicle.

Until the internal administrative investigation concludes, police said the K-9 handler “has not returned to his assignment and will remain reassigned in the Investigations Bureau.”

That investigation is still ongoing, police said.

Ozzy’s death has prompted outcry from some members of the community. Some animal rights advocates sent a letter to District Attorney Jackie Lacey asking for a criminal investigation.

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by City News Service, states in part: “After much research, we fully understand that an internal investigation (by Long Beach police) may result in this story being hidden as a personnel matter and forgotten. But we believe that Ozzy was an officer of the law and deserves the respect that any human officer would receive.”

Ozzy, who was part Belgian Malinois and part German Shepherd, worked in drug investigations and had been on the force more than five years.

City News Service contributed to this report.