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A police dog is a dog that is trained specifically to assist police and similar law-enforcement personnel with their work. They can also be known as a K9 unit (a homophone for canine), this is especially prevalent in the United States.

The term is sometimes associated with German Shepherd dogs because of the long history of the use of the German Shepherd by the police and military for public order enforcement (and some forces use German Shepherds exclusively).

In many jurisdictions the intentional injury or killing of a police dog is a felony, subjecting the perpetrator to far harsher penalties than the statutes embodied in local animal cruelty laws.

Contents 1 Purpose and function 2 Illicit substances detection 3 Police dogs in the United Kingdom 4 Police dogs in Belgium 5 Police dogs in the Netherlands 6 State statutes on police dogs in the U.S. 7 References 8 External links

There are several different reasons that a police force may choose to operate a dog. These include:

• Public order enforcement dog - The 'traditional' image of a police dog is one used to enforce public order by chasing and holding suspects, or detaining suspects by virtue of the threat of it being released. German Shepherds are commonly used.
• Tracking dog - A tracking is used to locate suspects or finding missing persons or objects. Bloodhounds are often used for this task.
• Illicit substances dog - Some dogs are used to detect illicit substances such as drugs or explosives which may be carried on a person in their effects. In many countries, Beagles are used in airports to sniff the baggage for items that are not permitted; due to their friendly nature and appearance, the beagle does not worry the passengers.^{[citation needed]}
• Cadaver dogs - Some dogs are trained in detecting the odor of decomposing bodies. Dogs' noses are so sensitive that they are even capable of detecting bodies that are under running water.^{[citation needed]} Pioneering work was done by Dr. Deb Komar (University of Alberta) in Association with the RCMP Civilian Search Dog Association in this area. The result was the development of training techniques that resulted in near 100% accuracy rates^[1]. Her research has been published in the Journal of Forensic Anthropology.

See also: detection dog

Police departments and government agencies also use dogs to detect illicit or dangerous substances, such as narcotics^[2] or explosives.^[3][4] For example, as of February 2007, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration currently uses 420 trained dogs to patrol 75 airports and 13 major transit systems. Some are wont to point out that on September 11, 2001, the TSA only had 174 dogs in service in 39 airports^{[dubious – discuss]}, though it matters little considering that the events of that day did not involve substances detectable by dogs.^[5]

General purpose police dogs in British police forces are usually German Shepherds, also known as Alsatians. 'Passive' drug dogs (used to sniff people as they pass to determine whether they are carrying drugs, but not to actually touch them) are often Labradors, known for their placid and friendly nature. 'Active' drug dogs (which search for drugs in locations instead of on people) and explosives dogs are usually Springer Spaniels, known for their inquisitiveness, intelligence and enthusiasm. General purpose dogs and passive drugs dogs are usually trained to search for objects as well.

Handlers and their dogs must be licensed by the Home Office, following a thirteen-week course. They are licensed as a team and handlers cannot work each others' dogs unless they undergo a licensing course with the other dog as well (which only lasts six weeks if both handler and dog are already fully-trained).

The Belgian Canine Support Group is part of the country's federal police. It has 35 dog teams. Some dogs are trained to detect drugs, human remains, hormones or fire accelerants. About a third are tracker dogs trained to find or identify living people. These teams are often deployed to earthquake areas to locate people trapped in collapsed buildings. The federal police’s explosive detector dogs are attached to the Federal Police Special Units.

The Dutch Mounted Police and Police Dog Service (DLHP) is part of the Korps landelijke politiediensten (KLPD; National Police Services Agency) and supports other units with horse patrols and specially trained dogs. The DLHP’s dogs are trained to recognize a single specific scent. They specialize in identifying scents (identifying the scent shared by an object and a person), narcotics, explosives and firearms, detecting human remains, locating drowning people and fire accelerants.

• RCMP Civilian Search Dog Association (cadaver dogs)
• The Police Dog Home Page
• The North American Police Work Dog Association
• Nashville Police Special Operations, K-9

• Media related to Police dogs from the Wikimedia Commons.