Starting a K-9 Unit...

[CXT_180]

*Edit* I do NOT want it to sound as if I want someone else to do my work for me. I am only asking for any information that you already may have,tips on what to include, absolute bare necessity equipment not to forget in the budget plan, etc. */edit*

Any information that any K9's out there have on how the program was started in their city, or any other LEO's that have info that could get me started would be very much appreciated. I have made this my personal project. The K9 unit would be primarily trained (ideally) in illegal narcotics detection. The other use we would have for it would be building searches for both suspects and explosives. I don't know much about handler training, or even the training of the dog itself. (Like can the dog be trained in both narcotics and explosives?)
We are talking a town of about 10,000 with a large majority being college students. The dog would be available to both the University Police (9 sworn officers) and the City (15 sworn). To give an idea of the size of department and city.
Obviously, budget is going to be an issue. So is convincing both the University Admin and City council.

I am willing to donate a lot of my off duty time and $$$$ to this project. I want to see it happen. There is a drug problem in this town, there are even some trafficking/manufacture issues that the State DCI and Tri State drug task force are involved in. The city has no K9, the county has no K9. Never has. Always depended on the K9 Trooper for the area.Well, he retired now. I don't care if I have to get the County involved, and get called in off duty to go out in the county somewhere with the dog. I will make this happen.
I am sick of us relying on other agencies for dogs. Bringing in explosives dectection dogs from 60+ miles away to sweep the building before major sporting events...etc.
There are other smaller departments and towns with dogs. I can't see any reason for us not to have one, besides the politics.
Anyways, any facts or information you can give would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[P01IC3M4N]

http://pacek9.com/

call kevin. (940)648-9494 he's really good about getting PR stuff for K9s. our K9 retired 2 years ago, but our new one is about to be going again. we had a dealership offer to provide a 2002 trans am at no cost for the K9.

kevin is really good at getting stuff donated. he also has a hummer H2 that he uses as well as this car... http://www.pacek9.com/promo/z28/ all donated. i think he bought the Z28 off ebay wrecked and fixed it up. it's his personal car. the H2 came from a dealership.

[Drew27k9]

First of all, you are going to have to decide what you want the K-9 trained in. You can have the dog trained in just patrol, or you can have him dual trained in patrol & narcotics detection, or patrol & bomb detection. You could even have a dog trained in just drugs or just bomb detection. Depending on what kind of training you want, that is where the price figures come in. But you can't have a dog trained in both narcotics and bombs. I come from a small department and I have had a K-9 since 1991. We took the oldest car in our fleet and converted it over for K-9. All we did was make custom screens for the side windows, took the entire back seat out and made a nice platform for the dog. Since the first dog was trained in patrol & drugs we went and used our drug money to purchase and trained the dog with that money. There are other ways if you don't have enough money from your drug account. You could send out letters to the stores in your town. I just seen on the internet that sprint just purschased a dog for a department in Pa. You could also talk to the college administration about a donation. There are many ways to raise the money, you just have to work hard at it.

[CXT_180]

My primary interest is drug interdiction.They only use the bomb dogs a couple times a year, not for every game.
Would patrol include building searches, etc for suspects?

[K9 Police]

Currently we are requesting donations from all the local veterinanarians in the county. They have helped agencies in the past and we are expecting close to $50,000 for a couple of dogs for some agencies in the county.

Not only them, but try ALL of your local businesses. You would be surprised what they can come up with. If you already don't have a unit, bring in another dog to give a presentation. Having a business see first-hand what a dog can do in case of a burglary, robbery, etc. can be a huge influence.

It definetly is not easy, but with a lot of hard work it can be done. I have heard of a couple grants through these forums but we have not used any in the past. Good luck.

K9

[dragonspider]

I don't really know anything about the topic, but I wonder if it wouldn't hurt to petition the community also... Collect enough signatures, and take it to the city council. While many councils don't listen, rallying the community behind your efforts will be a huge benefit.... Try to make contact with your congressman, or other political leaders that may live around your community. You'd be amazed what a good congressman can do to sway your local community leaders... Maybe you'll strike out, but then again, maybe you'll hit a home run too... Don't leave any rock unturned, or any street unvisited... In many cities, the drug infested areas are full of honest, hard-working people, that just can't move, or don't want to for whatever reason. Many of those people would be willing to help clean-up their neighborhood anyway they can...

[bengilkey]

I am a police K-9 instructor/trainer, I believe there are some tips on starting a new K-9 unit on my website under "articles". The address it www.geocities.com/kentennk9
Take care and good luck.
Ben