K9 UNITS

HISTORY The use of dogs in battle type scenarios dates back to the Greeks over 2,500 years ago. The first police dogs were used in the United Kingdom in 1908

USES Most dogs are used as patrol partners, apprehension assistants, trackers, and substance detectors The typical breeds used are Labradors, German Shepherds, and Belgian Malinois These breeds are used because of their strong prey drive This is there ability to track, chase, and hold onto prey

USES CONT. The breeds are usually all European. This is mainly because American breeds are bred for conformation and not working ability

WHY USE DOGS?? Most dogs work on a toy-reward system or food-reward system Dogs are trained by association Ex. Smell gas = toy/food Some dogs can alert to over 20 different substances Dogs can pick up traces of substances that electronic devices cannot detect Dogs sense of smell is so great they can detect a substance with less than a thousandth of a drop

Training Facilities must obtain a liscense to train police dogs Prices can range from $5,000 – $10,000 for a trained dog Dogs usually obtain a Schutzhund title along with other training Usually dogs that are sent to be sight dogs, and fail, become police dogs.

RICHMOND K9 UNIT Your local police department has 2 K9 officers They are trained as search and rescue and drug identification Wito and Rexo along with James King and Travis Bowles

SO WHATS THE PROBLEM Some think dogs are a form of police brutality They are against the use of drug dogs at routine road stops