Some might call it fate that National Police K9 Day was celebrated during Labor Day weekend 2024. I call it an ideal illustration of the always-paying dividends of dogs in policing, unrelentingly pursuing justice by sleuthing and capturing bad actors preying on innocents.
Per a press release from the Bradenton Police Department, “National Police K9 Day is celebrated each September 1st, honors police dogs, and memorializes K9s who gave their lives in the line of duty.”
Similarly, the growing popularity of therapy dogs (comfort dogs) pillaring sworn and civilian men and women on the frontlines, ensuring public safety, is a remarkable element helping institute wellness in those who serve.
Law enforcement canines diligently work, fulfill duties, score cool catches to admire and respect, recalibrate stress in cops and dispatchers, and are rewarded with copious petting sessions complemented with a chewy treat or a fave toy. Belly rubs from squad members work well, too…no bones about it!
Bloodhounds’ super-sniffers routinely pick up the trails of missing persons and fugitives, leading handlers to them and returning them home.
Airport police K9s patrol labyrinths comprising massive terminals and the gobs of people that traverse through them, ensuring public safety.
Accolades are synonymous among police K9 handlers and citizens alike: visit any police agency’s social media sites and you’ll read a slew of comments indicative of awe, respect, and honor for working dogs in law enforcement capacities, including roll call stuff.
(Photo courtesy of the Antioch Police Department.)
Let’s check a relatively new dynamic duo of a police officer and his young canine…
K9 Stark’s police-dog handler posted the following admiration and respect he has for his partner, a 3-year-old Dutch Shepherd whose name is “a nod to Tony Stark, or Iron Man”:
“Thankful for my boy for teaching me the best parts of this job. I love the community I have walked into when a leash was handed to me and I would know nothing of it if not for the amazing K9s fighting the good fight all across the nation. Thank God for good dogs like these.”
(Photo courtesy of Stark the Dutch.)
Like many other law enforcement canines, K9 Stark exhibits the discipline and diligence of a true crimefighter who will trek violators and unearth their nefarious ways, stopping at nothing until justice is served.
I viewed a training exercise posted by his assigned handler. Take note of K9 Stark’s unbridled glee over being a good boy whose stellar police performance and unmistakable will to please his partner is most evident in his body mannerisms, namely his tail that can likely propel a maxed-to-capacity cruise ship in deep seas.
Although law enforcement agencies have among their staff filed training officers (FTOs) to teach recruits about policing society, and canine cops instruct newer K9 handlers how to fight crime with their assigned dogs, there is a two-way street in dynamic duos of dogs and human handlers, with teachable moments for both species.
Of course, K9 Stark completes the mission with ease and sits poised…until his handler provides a treat as a reward for another job well done.
(Photo courtesy of Stark the Dutch.)
Self-Discovery
As much as certified canine professionals teach dogs new tricks and ensure their skills are honed to stratospheric heights, the script can be flipped a bit, with handlers letting go of the leash and watching the working dog rely on its senses without much, if any, direction and prompts from the human counterpart.
“Allowing a dog to figure things out on their own, maybe with a slight push here or there is one of the most valuable things the folks that taught me to work a dog passed to me.
“You can see in the beginning, Stark gives me a good solid change and response but doesn’t specify where it is. To start nailing down odor source rather than just being ‘in odor,’ I let him off lead and let him self-discover. Some handler guidance, just to keep him in the right area…and you can see the difference yourself.”
On the midnight shift, when the radio miraculously quieted down a tad, our department’s canine teams deployed in clandestine locales and trained
Dog Days Remembered
As certified law enforcement officers, police canines are accorded the same dignity and honor when they go down in the line of duty. Lately, there’s been a bevy of K9s injured or murdered while performing dutifully.
Similar to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial wall in Washington, DC, paying homage to police dogs killed in the line of duty, localized versions commemorating the phenomenal work put in by canines have sprouted up in counties and cities in many states.
With the annual National Police K9 Day highlighting service dogs doing their part to combat crime and paying the ultimate price, human counterparts gathered to honor their four-legged fallen who worked to the bitter end. Some police dogs perished
In Tampa Bay, there is the Regional Law Enforcement K9 Memorial. Based outside the Temple Terrace Police Department, a suburb of Tampa, the regional monument depicting a diligent duty dog is solidly framed with red bricks on which are names of deceased police dogs and their end of watch (EOW) date etched into the rectangular stones (seen in today’s cover photo).
Law enforcement agencies from several counties comprising the Tampa Bay region attended.
Some officers in the group were personally impacted when their assigned canine partner went down right before their eyes. During National Police K9 Day, surviving partners ponder in quiet repose, with a focus on the sole brick that forever bears their slain partner’s name and the date of the final call.
(Photo courtesy of the Bradenton Police Department.)
Ceremonially, class-A uniforms are donned, prayer opens the convocation, honorable speeches are offered from a podium, and single-stem roses are offered to cops for personal placement on the monument’s level. And if you listen during moments of silence, you can likely hear a dog bark, whether from up above or from somewhere right around some knees.
One of the law enforcement feats I have been harping on is the bonds forged between police dogs and cops. Wellness programs increase among America’s public safety organizations, many having one or more therapy dogs (comfort dogs) to befriend and from whom unconditional love and tacit counsel are norms.
Lately, I have noticed a growing philosophy among people. Namely, dogs provide a degree of companionship beyond what our species offers.
Whether from duty-related endings or some form of cancer, police canine handlers’ lives are inextricably altered.
The somberness at police canine funerals and memorials dedicated to working dogs partnering with police personnel is a testament to the tremendous abilities, super skills, and righteous roles fulfilled by animals working in public safety.
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