Why Are K-9 Dogs Used In The Police Department

“The United States Police Canine Association became the largest and oldest active organization of its kind- “Ever striving for the betterment of all police K-9” – in August, 1971 when two existing associations, the Police K-9 Association and the United States K-9 Association, merged” (O’Heare). These two organizations now know that strength is in unity. From these groups merged different types of canine from basic patrol dog to the scent specialty dog and final to the great detector dog. Law Enforcement requires canines that have outstanding performance and physical/psychological health. Also, canines should be balanced in aggression behavior and social play. There is an abundance of good and bad to learn about

“In the wake of social, technological, environmental, economic and political changes, the future law enforcement executive must carefully consider if there is a future role for police K-9 programs. will the impact of technology eliminate the need for K-9 programs? Will the use of the police dog become more of a liability than an asset?” (Zwicky ii ) Modern law enforcement is not what it used to be 100 years ago. In most aspects everythings changed except a few things, one being Dogs, dogs have and will be an important aspect for years to come. Thoe there are those who say that dogs have no place in law enforcement, that they are unreliable and no longer needed for the job. In this paper i will argue the importance of dogs in law enforcement and that their use should not be underlooked, for these police dogs are used for everything from finding drugs and bombs to locating missing children and escaped convicts.

    Dogs have been domesticated for over 10,000 years. Food from the humans would bring the dogs to them, and the dogs would bark at predators when they came so the people started to feed the dogs to keep them around. In the 1’st century AD in China Roman mosaics show evidence of the present day Pekingese and Roman ladies also had lap dogs. They believe the dogs warmth cures stomach aches. The earliest evidence of any domesticated dog is a jawbone found in Iraq in a cave about 12,000 years ago. We know it is a jawbone of a dog because a jawbone of a wolf is smaller and the teeth is smaller.

Upon doing a little research about dogs and how they are used within the law legally can be controversial, but dogs using their noses is actually a very key tool.

Dogs are not just cute and fuzzy friends. Since it has been thousands of years that dogs have been trained to do things for humans, we can now count on dogs to do very specific jobs. For example, the article from the U.S. Department of Justice says, “Service animals are defined as dogs that are

Work animals, including dogs and horses, have been around for centuries, used for working on the farm or for transportation. In Mark Ostermeier’s article he explains that after World War I, people started training animals, specifically dogs, to escort veterans with disabilities. The 1960’s, is when the first formalized dog training schools started to emerge in America. As service dogs became more prevalent in public places, the public did not understand the training involved for these dogs to do their job. Due to the lack of knowledge of the purpose of a service animal, business owners, corporations and airlines prevented Americans with service dogs from gaining access to public places.

Herding dogs go back as far as Bible times. These early dogs were used to keep livestock from

According to The Department of Justice estimates that nearly 25 dogs are killed by law enforcement every day in the United States. That equals 10,000 per year. Every circumstance and breed of animal is represented in these groups of murdered animals. Everything from German

After reading the articles Dog’s on duty and Service Dogs, Patients Bond Through Health Care Partnership, I decided that the first skill a dog must learn to become a service dog/police dog is a high sense of smell, especially to become a police dog. From the article Dog’s on duty: “He and other police dogs across the country are skilled at sniffing out danger and keeping people safe.” Dogs are said to have a sense of smell 1000 times better than a human being which is helpful if a dog needs to sniff out a bomb or something equally as dangerous. Those are my reasons why I think dogs absolutely need a good sense of smell.

(J. L. 2016, December 07) In today’s environment, police canines cannot be released to sic people. Those days are over, police dogs are now specialized and their handlers have to be responsible in the use of the

Over the years, police have been portrayed in the media, television shows, and the local newspaper as crime fighting heroes. This portrayal would make one think a police officer is always out doing a dangerous job, which may require shooting, beating up, or arrested the bad guy. The truth is, most officers will not make a felony arrest in a given year, and there are also many officers who have never fired their weapon. There are various perspectives of the policing functions. I will examine these perspectives from the local, state, and federal organizational levels. I will identify and address possible future changes in laws and the overall

Law enforcement officers have many duties. Law enforcement officers are sworn to serve and protect society as well as to fight crime. They also maintain order within their jurisdiction, as well as providing other services that the community will benefit from. Most of the time, police officers are considered to be crime fighters, in which this image has been brought to citizen’s attention by the media. The styles of policing should match the community in which they serve, so there is no conflict between the community and the law enforcement officer. The future policing structure does have a huge impact socially, economically, and

“Street cops have a homeland security mission, whether as part of a formal agency strategy, a particular duty assignment, or simply a new facet to our perpetual role as the first in line of protection for our communities. Some of the most significant post-9/11 changes to law enforcement are seen in the developing role of the street cop as a homeland security protector, no longer could intelligence gathering be a task limited to part of the detective division.” (Policeonecom, 2016)

The report also indicates that the FPD uses canines not because it is necessary to protect themselves or others from violent offenders, but to punish offenders, without due process rights, and because the culture perpetuates a sense that the officers do not need to use any skills or tactics to reduce injury, but to use methods that ultimately ensure that pain and injury occur:

The United States military have used dogs as partners with deployed troops since World War I. Their service spans deployments to both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Panama, the Persian Gulf, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.