The Topeka Police Departments K-9 program started in 1960. At 40-plus years, it is one of the oldest K-9 Units in the United States.
During the tenure of the program the Department has utilized German Shepherds, Dutch Shepherds, Czech Shepherds, Doberman Pinschers, Labrador Retrievers and Belgian Malinois for training as K-9 partners.
The dogs are selected and trained by the Kansas Highway Patrol Police Service Dog Unit.
Training
The dogs and the Officer Handlers undergo an intensive 10-week training program to become proficient at their work. They are taught obedience, patrol skills, along with narcotic and explosive detection skills. After their 10-week basic school the dogs are certified under the International Police Dog Standard.
K-9 teams perform many tasks to assist police officers in their jobs:
- K9s are trained for tracking - scent detection of human scent and following the footsteps of an individual who has left an area on foot.
- K-9s teams search for lost persons.
- Building searches require the K9's to locate individuals who may be hiding inside a structure.
- K9s assist in the capture of dangerous criminals by trailing their path of travel.
- K9s conduct area searches to detect fleeing hiding criminals.
- K9s assist in evidence recovery by detecting a human scent which has been transferred to items recently handled by humans. Items can be located in any indoors or outdoors setting.
- K9s perform article searches after a crime has occurred such as searching for shell casings after a shooting in areas sometimes as large as a football field.
- K9s back up their Officer partners on all types of patrol calls.
Narcotics Detection
The narcotics detection trained K-9s are often called to search vehicles and houses when requested by an officer and backed by probable cause for the presence of illegal drugs or contraband. The narcotics detection dogs are aggressive alert K-9s meaning that they scratch where ever they smell illegal drug odors. The drug dogs are trained to detect marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin odors. The K-9 teams have been responsible for the seizure of contraband, currency and property for the Department. Their reward for this is simply their favorite toy.
Protection
The dogs are trained to protect their assigned handler in a variety of ways. They are taught basic obedience initially and then are trained in many different scenarios. This type of training requires the dogs to have physical engagement contact with suspects if needed. The officers are trained extensively in the use of force and proper utilization of the trained canine in a variety of situations.
Explosive Detection
Two of the Department dogs are trained to search and detect explosive devices. These dogs are passive alert K-9's, which means when they smell an odor that indicates an explosive might be present, they sit in front of the location.
The Topeka Police K-9 Unit currently consists of 10 K-9 teams. There are eight patrol/narcotics trained dogs, and two bomb detection dogs. Currently, the department has nine Belgian Malinois and one Czech Shepherd.
The Topeka Police K-9 Unit is a great link between the Department and the community. Many of the K-9s were purchased with monies from public donations from local business's that have supported the K-9 program for many years. The K-9 teams often perform demonstrations for public events.
If you would like to schedule a demonstration to learn more about the K-9 Unit and their functions please contact the Topeka Police Department, Cpl. Steve Purney, 785-368-9495.
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