What Is A K9 Officer?

K-9 police officers are law enforcement professionals who partner with highly-trained police dogs to execute police duties. These police dogs are a valuable asset to many police departments around the country. K-9 units help identify substances or criminals that an average police officer wouldn’t be able to track.

What does K9 mean for police?

A police dog, also known as K-9 or K9 (a homophone of canine), is a dog specifically trained to assist members of law enforcement. Dogs have been used in law enforcement since the Middle Ages.

What does K9 actually stand for?

The term ‘K9’ or ‘K-9’ is derived from the English and French word ‘ CANINE ‘ (which simply means ‘DOG’). ‘CA’=’K’ and ‘NINE’=’9’ (same as ‘YOU TOO’=’U2’). These K9 teams carry the name ‘K9 unit’. ‘K9’ is also used for dog clubs, dog kennels, dog training, commercial dog items, etc.

How much do K9 officers make an hour?

Canine (K9) Officer Salary According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, or BLS, the average national salary of a canine officer is ​$70,000​ per year or ​$33.66​ per hour, as of May 2020.

Do K9 officers choose their dogs?

They have chosen for their own police dogs the Belgian Malinois. Upon completion of their initial training, some departments swear in a dog, give them a badge, and an ID number.

Do K9 cops get paid more?

K9 police officers typically earn about the same amount as other officers, however, in some instances they do earn a slightly higher pay rate in order to compensate them for the extra time required to care for and train their canine companion. In 2010 officers who worked for the state on average earned $58,200 a year.

Are police dogs friendly?

Generally spoken police dogs are friendly and social dogs, but they can be aggressive while on duty of course. More and more our customers ask for social dogs. This means they should be ‘friendly’ and easy to handle by the handler.

Can my dog be a police dog?

The course to qualify as a police dog is arduous, and the dog and handler must undergo periodic booster training. Patrol dogs are trained to attack when told and stop as soon as their handler gives the order. Police K-9s can even be trained to pick out suspects in a lineup.

Is a K-9 a German shepherd?

German Shepherds have a long history in K-9 work. In fact, Shepherds were initially bred in the early 1900s to be a working dog, including for police and military service. Breeder Max von Stephanitz, a German Army veteran, began selectively breeding GSDs for key traits, including intelligence, loyalty, and persistence.

Can a woman be a K-9 officer?

In fact, I found there are very few female K-9 handlers in law enforcement overall. But it turns out the truth is simply there are fewer female officers to begin with, and K-9 positions are very competitive and limited in number.

What are the disadvantages of being a K-9 officer?

Primary disadvantages of using police dogs are mandatory training commitments, quality of the canine, insufficient funding, consequences of dog bites, problems keeping patrol vehicles, clean and unexpected death or retirement of the dog.

What are the benefits of being a K-9 officer?

Benefits of a K9 Program for Police Departments

• Drugs and Bombs. A K9s keen sense of smell helps them to detect items that a human officer might miss, especially drugs and bombs.
• Tracking.
• A PR Blessing.
• Special Events.
• Officer Safety and Suspect Apprehension.

What happens to K9 dogs when they retire?

What happens to retired police dogs? Most retired police dogs were euthanized before President Bill Clinton ended the practice by signing Robby’s Law in 2000, which states that retired police and military dogs can be adopted by their handlers or other service members. “Most K9 police dogs will go live with a family.

Do police dogs wear bulletproof vests?

Do police dogs wear bulletproof vests? Unfortunately, unlike their human counterparts, not every police dog is issued a K9 bulletproof vest as standard. Most K-9 units are self-funded and the law enforcement agencies do not have the budget to purchase these life-saving vests for their canine members.

What breed are police dogs?

The following breeds are popular choices to be trained as police dogs:

• Belgian Malinois.
• German Shepherd Dogs.
• Bloodhounds.
• Dutch Shepherds.
• Labrador Retrievers.