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Police dogs are dogs that help the police to solve crimes. They have become a major part of law enforcement in the past several years. Police dogs have saved many lives with their unique skills and bravery. They are loyal, watchful, and protective of their police officer counterparts and are often deemed an important and irreplaceable part of many police departments.
What kinds of police dogs are there?
Police dogs today are trained in specific areas. You could say they are experts in their field. Some of the specific police dog roles include:
Tracking - Police dogs who specialize in tracking use their powerful sense of smell to track criminal suspects or missing persons. Tracking dogs are trained for years and can find even the most cunning criminal. Without police tracking dogs, many a suspect would escape from the police.
Substance Detectors - These police dogs also use their sense of smell to help police, but in a different way from tracking dogs. Substance dogs focus on detecting a specific substance. Some dogs specialize in recognizing bombs or explosives. These brave dogs are trained not only in detecting the explosive, but also how to respond (very carefully!) and safely let their officer partner know where the explosive is located. Other dogs may focus on illegal drugs. These dogs help save officers from having to slowly search by hand through luggage or a car or other areas by quickly determining if an illegal substance is near.
Public Enforcement - These police dogs assist officers in maintaining order. They may chase down a criminal suspect and hold them while the officer arrives or they may just guard an area (like a jail or prison) to keep suspects from escaping.
Cadaver Dogs - Although it sounds kind of gross, these police dogs are trained in finding dead bodies. This is an important function in a police department and these dogs do it well.
