At the Buhl Police Department, like most other law enforcement agencies in the world, K-9 Units are an essential tool in the fight against crime. A canine’s superior sense of smell allows them to not only detect miniscule odors undetectable by their human law enforcement counterparts, but to distinguish these odors from an array of distracting and/or more powerful odors. Their keen eyesight, used in the wild to detect prey, supplements this sense of smell to make them unmatched locating tools. Canines are not only intelligent and trainable, but they adapt well to new and changing situations, a constant in the unpredictable world of law enforcement.

Humans have recognized the benefits of using canines in law enforcement dating back to Ancient Egypt. In New York and other American cities of the 1800’s, officers who walked their beats carrying only batons were no match for criminals armed with knives and pistols. To reduce the high rate of on-duty officer injuries and deaths, U.S. municipal police agencies began to pair up specially trained officers with canines.

The Buhl Police Department K-9 unit, which only consisted of one K9 team that is individually assigned to Sgt. Katsules.

The K9 Unit Helps Law Enforcement In Many Ways

• Provide support to preventative patrol units
• Perform safety checks, keeping unauthorized persons out of restricted areas
• Track fleeing subjects
• Support on delivery of warrants and high-risk arrests
• Search for narcotics
• Search for explosives
• Search for missing people
• Search facilities more efficient, faster and safer
• Deter crime and keep order
• Provide higher level of officer safety
• Reduce resistance during apprehension
• Assisting in the control of crowds or riots
• Public relations (K9 demonstrations)

Police dog candidates often come from proven bloodlines with a documented lineage of quality working offspring. Belgian Malinois are a common choice of breeds because of their superior intelligence, versatility, stability, energy, strength and adaptability, although other breeds have proven their ability to be an excellent K-9 candidate.

Selecting a working canine from these proven bloodlines can still be a daunting task. There are certain characteristics that are necessary for a good police dog; they include temperament, courage, endurance, sharpness, and instinctive drive. Most police dog candidates have these positive traits to some degree, but not all dogs exhibit the proper balance required of a good working canine. Testing the candidates can show us how each of their characteristics manifest themselves in certain scenarios, thus allowing us to pick the better dogs. This series of tests is designed to gauge the dogs base level of performance in each of these traits.

Once a dog is chosen as a BPD K-9 trainee, it will go through a Idaho Law Enforcement approved K-9 training course. The K9 Training Course consist of 400 hours of training, which covers obedience, man work (physical apprehension), recalls, tracking, building searches and agility training. Once a canine completes the patrol or Narcotic training course, the handler and his K-9 still have to be certified. After the K-9 team passes certification, they will go through additional training.

After the K-9 team passes their certification(s), the training does not stop. Continuous maintenance training must be conducted or the canines will lose proficiency in their trained tasks. Monthly, Our K9 team meets with other agencies to stay proficient by providing new training challenges to both the K-9 handler and canine partner. This training will cover basic obedience, building searches, area searches, bite work and drug searches; but also allow trainers to cover unique scenarios encountered by other K-9 Teams on actual calls or advanced tactical training and deployment with other specialty units.

The Buhl Police Department has received several generous donations from local residents and businesses, which offsets the cost of purchasing a new canine, equipment and training costs. Monetary donations are not the only way local businesses support the K-9 Unit. Often local businesses give the K-9 Unit access to their building so they can train the canine in building searches. The K-9 Unit is always actively looking for new areas and buildings to train in. This support provides a “win” for all involved by providing a law enforcement presence to businesses during training, and new opportunities for K-9 Teams to train in realistic environments.

Once a canine is purchased, he/she stays at the handler’s home. A fully enclosed 10’ x 10’ kennel is built at each handler’s residence to house the canine during off-duty hours. These kennels provide a sheltered, sanitary, and safe environment for the canine. Oftentimes they include a personal touch for the canine such as a doghouse, elevated sleeping platform, fans, etc.A handler also has the option of allowing their K-9 partner to live in their residence alongside their family and other pets.

The K-9 Unit also performs demonstrations throughout the year. The K-9 handlers use these demonstrations to show how their trained dogs listen to them in obedience; how they apprehend criminal suspects and release on command; how they can find lost items or articles in high grass; and how they alert on hidden drugs. These demonstrations also serve as an opportunity for the handlers to show how our canines can interact socially with all citizens, young and old alike, in a friendly manner. Any local business, organized groups, or private citizens may request a K9 demonstration. To make a request for a demonstration, please contact the Buhl Police Department

Though the dog is a significant part of a K-9 team, the handler is extremely important. These officers are special men and women. Each is professional and self-disciplined. Officers that handle Patrol/Narcotic K-9s must have very good judgment, as their roll as a K-9 Handler will place them in a higher percentage of critical and dangerous situations, such as lethal force standoffs. All handlers must be dog lovers and have a natural ability to communicate with his or her K-9 partner.

As Buhl Police Department K-9 reaches the age of retirement, usually around 7 or 8 years old, or when it can no longer physically endure the stresses of the job. After retirement, they are usually adopted by their handlers and live out their retirement interacting with their family.

Honoring Our Past K9s

HONORING OUR FAITHFUL AND LOYAL PAST K9’S WHO STOOD BY THEIR HANDLERS AS THEY PROTECTED THE CITIZENS OF BUHL:

• Briscoe
• Britt
• Kayah

Contact Information

For more information call Buhl Police Department at: 208-543-4200