The Canine Unit is a specialized section of the Uniform Operations Division, which utilizes two teams of police officers/handlers paired with working dogs. These units are utilized for proactive criminal enforcement and exigent circumstances where a canine is more effective than a human officer in detecting, locating, and apprehending suspects and/or victims. The proper use of a canine unit has been scientifically shown to reduce the number of officer-involved shootings in a police department.
Only trained canine officers will exercise control over the canine, or direct the canine to perform tasks. Our canines have satisfactorily met the phases of training of a recognized police canine association such as the United States Police Canine Association, National Police Canine Association, or the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association. These are not all-inclusive, but are merely used as examples.
Public education is also an important element of our canine Unit. Our canine unit conducts public demonstrations for schools, as well as civic and community organizations on a regular basis.