Police use highly trained service dogs to help locate suspects, missing persons and evidence.
Law enforcement agencies worldwide use police service dogs to help deter crime and protect public safety. In the United States, local, state, federal, tribal and military police departments have canine units (also known as K9 units), which may have one or more police dog teams. A team consists of a handler and a dog. The team is trained to provide support at crime scenes by tracking suspects and missing persons and detecting drugs, bombs and other evidence. The handler is a law enforcement officer who performs canine duty in addition to his primary responsibility, which may be in patrol, detective or administrative work.
Instructions
1. Obtain the proper education. Minimally, you will need a high school diploma or a general equivalency diploma. Depending on the agency, you might be required to have a minimum number of college credits, an associate degree or a bachelor's degree in law enforcement, police science, criminal justice or a related discipline.
2. Apply for a recruit position. You must pass a selection process, which includes aptitude and skills tests, a medical exam, a drug screening, a psychological review, a background check and a polygraph examination. The process can take several months to complete.
3. Earn a peace officer standard and training (POST) certificate. As a police recruit, you must complete 12 or more weeks of training a law enforcement academy. Upon graduation, you will be issued the POST certificate.
4. Serve two or three years as a patrol officer. Every agency requires its patrol officers to complete a minimum number of years on its force before they can apply for special details such as the police canine unit.
5. Apply for a position in your agency's canine unit when an opportunity becomes available. If you successfully complete the selection process, you will be assigned to the unit.
6. Complete a police canine training program from an accredited program. You will learn topics such as canine law, dog handling, principles of dog training, dog care and maintenance and record keeping. With your dog, you will learn the skills needed for patrol work such as obedience, tracking, building search, evidence search and apprehension. You must complete additional training if your dog will also perform specialized tasks, such as detecting narcotics.
Tags: canine unit, dogs help, minimum number, missing persons, must complete, police canine, POST certificate