The Richmond Police Department Canine Unit serves the citizens and law enforcement officers of Richmond
and the surrounding community. The goal of the Canine Unit is to make police work safer and more efficient for the men and women who patrol the streets through the use of specially trained canines and handlers.
Both the handler and the canine members of the Canine Unit are carefully selected and trained for their duties. The selection of handlers for the Canine Unit involves an extensive, multi-faceted assessment and selection process that includes a physical ability stamina test, home visit/inspection/interview, job performance/records review, and oral board interview.
The Canine Unit is composed of one team. A Canine Team consists of a Handler and their respective Canin
e. The Canine Unit is assigned to the Patrol Division and provides canine support services to all Divisions of the Police Department.
Canine services are available at all hours of the day, every day of the week.
Training
The Canine Unit currently consists of a Drug Detection and Patrol Dog team.
Our multi-purpose Canine is trained to locate marijuana, hashish, cocaine base (crack), cocaine hydrochloride (powder), methamphetamines, ecstasy, and heroin. Our Canines is also utilized to track persons, search buildings for persons, search areas for persons, search for articles, provide handler protection, and apprehend criminals when the situation is serious enough and no other means of apprehending the suspect are available. The Canine Unit is available to search for lost or missing persons and children as well. Our canine team is also assigned to the Emergency Response Unit for tactical and high-risk situations.
The competency of all canine teams are maintained in the areas described above and is tested regularly. The canines undergo a certification process once a year and also partake in weekly maintenance training.
Demonstrations
The Canine Unit is active in the community, not only by attempting to make the community a safer place but also in the area of public demonstrations. The unit provides demonstrations year-round to school groups, both public and private, as well as to civic organizations throughout the Bluegrass area. During these demonstrations, drug searches are conducted, as well as basic obedience exercises, article searches, agility tests, and simulated criminal apprehension, where our bad guy actor, wearing protective gear, is stopped by the canine.
Forums
The Richmond Police Department will be conducting a series of community crime prevention forums in the city to address the recent rash of thefts and burglaries. Citizens are encouraged to attend to learn how they can better protect themselves and their property and assist the police in making their community safer.
Contact
If you are interested in having the Richmond Police Canine Unit provide a public demonstration or if you have any questions about the Canine Unit, please email Officer Chip Gray at 859-623-1162.