Bite Out of Crime

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Richmond Police Department K-9 officer Chip Gray, pictured with his partner Logan, said a good police dog is one who will go after the source odor. Gray added that a common trait among police dogs is the desire to hunt. (Photo by Jim Robertson)

Known as man’s best friend, dogs are an integral part of society. This is true in police work as countless agencies across the nation depend on K-9s to perform a myriad of duties.

According to sitstay.com, many breeds can be useful in police work. Some of the most common include German Shepherds, beagles, Belgian Malinois and Labrador Retreivers.

However, the mark of a good police dog is its drive and ability to hunt, Richmond Police Officer Chip Gray said.

“When you’re talking about scent work, you’re looking for a dog with specific drives,” Gray explained. “Any breed that loves to hunt can do the job. So you’re looking for dogs who love to find that ball (police dogs are rewarded with a ball for a successful hunt) and play with that ball.”

One of the main tools a dog uses is its nose. Gray said the sniffer, paired with an excellent drive to hunt or find things, usually equates to a good police dog.

“You want the dog who will go after that source odor,” he said. “It’s like a wolf looking for the rabbit’s nest. They’re going to hunt for it until they find it.”

Training

The adage of ‘many are called, but few are chosen’ applies to police dogs, as many dogs don’t have the temperament to do the job. The training that goes into the process weeds out dogs who do not have what it takes.

“Training takes several weeks of conditioning a behavior to a stimulus,” Madison County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Martin Wesley said. “Through patience and hard work, it typically takes about six to eight weeks for a dog to graduate ‘basic training.’ That is only the beginning. I often refer to police dog basic training as the basic training of a police officer or military recruit. When you graduate, you know just enough to be dangerous. The real education comes through (additional) training and, more importantly, experience.”

Much of the training is odor detection, whether it be narcotics, explosives, human or any other odor detection desired by an agency, Wesley said.

“First, you will imprint the dog on the odor of the substance to be detected by the dog with reward,” Wesley said. “This is achieved through repetition. The tracking aspect is also the introduction of human odor with the combination of ground disturbance.”

Depending on the vendor, purchasing a trained police dog will typically cost an agency anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000 for a single purpose dog, or between $12,000 and $15,000 for a multi-purpose dog, Wesley said.

“Again, that all depends on the vendor,” he added.

Handler/Dog Relationship

Having a well-trained police dog does very little good if the handler isn’t properly trained, Wesley said. He stressed that a handler must know what he or she is getting themselves into before becoming a K-9 officer.

“The relationship between the dog and handler should be the handler playing the role of the parent, and the dog assuming the role of a child,” he said. “You have to deal with the dog as if it were a small child. The dog wants so badly to please the handler as a child would a parent. A handler will spend more time with the police dog than they do with their spouse and children.”

Madison County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Deputy Martin Wesley, pictured with his partner Jimmy, said many weeks of training goes into producing a police dog, but in the end, an agency will reap benefits from having the dog. (Photo by Jim Robertson)

Community Policing and Officer Safety

While the primary function of a police K-9 is as a locating tool, dogs also help by bridging gaps within the community and increasing officer safety.

“The dog is a great equalizer,” Gray explained. “Everybody loves a dog, especially an obedient dog. A dog can be that bridge between (the police) and someone who can’t stand law enforcement.”

Also, K-9s are a force multiplier, Gray continued.

“Somebody who will fight me tooth and nail with all my extra tools doesn’t want anything to do with that dog,” he said. “(The bad guy) will put his hands up and give up. How safe is that for the officer? Nobody is hurt. Nobody is bitten or tackled. It’s just a force multiplier.”