Police Work - Report Example

Introduction

The police service had come a long way since its early days in the 19th century (Handy, Harrington and Pittman, 1961). Not only have their tactics been evolving, but so has their composition and weapons that they use. One way that the departments have changed over the years is dogs’ inclusion in performing police work. The departments that use police dogs are referred to as K-9 Units (Hart et al., 2000). The name K-9 is a derivation of the English word, “canine,” which refers to a dog (Hart et al., 2000). According to Hart et al. (2000), dogs have traditionally been used by humans to accomplish certain tasks, such as assisting people with disabilities in navigation, hearing, and socializing effects. K-9 units are used in law enforcement to perform rescue operations, drug and explosive detection, crowd control and officers’ protection.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Track and Rescue Operations

The K-9 units are an important instrument in rescue operations because of their heightened senses. According to Hart et al. (2000), police canines possess superior olfactory senses. The dogs’ heightened sense of smell makes K-9 units important for tracking down lost or kidnapped people. For example, the search for the missing 11-year-old boy in New Hampshire involved two different K-9 units that helped track down the boy (Hastings, 2020). These K-9 units were able to do that because of the dogs’ superior olfactory senses.

Additionally, k-9 units are used in tracking down suspects in their potential hideouts or escape routes. Patterns of activities reported by 255 K-9 unit officers identified searching areas and tracking cases as the types of cases that the dogs are most involved in (Hart et al., 2000). For example, a K-9 unit in Tulsa, Oklahoma, managed to track down a domestic abuse suspect that ended up with his arrest (News On 6, 2020). The incident shows how the police can use the dogs in tracking down suspects. The police capitalized on the dogs’ superior olfactory and auditory system to ensure that the offender is brought to justice.

The Drug and Explosive Detection

The K-9 units can also be involved in drug operations to either track down or detect substances. Jezierski et al. (2014) shows indicate that police dogs are usually trained to detect illicit substances. They can detect and distinguish the smell of illicit substances from other items and events they type of drugs. German shepherds have superior drug detection capacity, making them preferable in such operations (Jezierski et al., 2020). The use of K-9 units in drug operations increases the efficiency and accuracy of the process. The k-9 units only search specific targets identified by the dogs rather than search everybody and everything. It reduces the time wasted in the search operations. They also increase the chances of arresting drug traffickers and putting a stop to their operations. For example, an incident in Ohio involving K9 units led to a drug trafficker’s arrest (Naquin, 2020). According to Naquin (2020), the K-9 units alerted the officers to the smell of drugs, causing them to search the vehicle. The k-9 units were able to detect the drugs because of their superior olfactory senses. The incident shows how K-9 units are used in gospel operations.

K-9 units are also useful in the detection of explosives and other types of weapons. Hart et al. (2000) show that the K-9 units are also trained for explosive detection. Certain chemical compositions within various explosives make it possible for the K-9 units to detect them and alert the deputies to their presence. The dogs can be trained to detect the smell of gun powder hence giving them the ability to detect certain types of weapons that make use of the chemical compound and respond accordingly (Furton, Greb, & Holness, 2010).

Therefore, the detection of ammunition, weapons and other explosives is one of the many uses for K-9 units. That is why the security officers at Mayfair Mall in Milwaukee decided to use K-9 units to detect firearms that happen to be illegal within the mall’s premises, even with a permit (Chronis, 2020). The decision shows the capability of K-9 units to detect firearms and ammunition. K-9 units are preferable for such tasks because they are non-invasive and tend to preserve people’s dignity.

Crowd Control

K-Units can be used to control crowds in riots or protests. The study conducted by Hart et al. (2000) showed that crowd control is one of the least uses of canines. Those involved in law enforcement said that canines serve as less-lethal force, which can be very convincing more than weapons (Hart et al., 2000). While weapons such as firearms are more lethal, they aren’t very useful in crowd control situations. Most rioters and protesters don’t believe police officers would use firearms against them because that would turn out to be an excessive amount of force. Canines, on the other hand, are less lethal and therefore can be deployed to control crowds without inflicting any serious damage on them.

Protection

Protection is another use for the K-9 units. K-9 units are trained to attack and respond to physical threats in various ways. Handy et al. (1961) refers to it as attack work. According to Handy et al. (1961), the attack was the main function of K-9 units during their early days in the police departments. Their ability to attack an aggressor made K-9 units a good source of protection for the officers on duty (Hart et al., 2000). They do so by attacking an aggressor’s hand, blocking their ability to use a weapon or physically harm the officer. As a result, dog handlers in police units think of the K-9s as their comrades because they would risk their lives to save the officers.

Simultaneously, police dogs are used to protect property and police officers (Handy et al., 1961). The K-9 units would sometimes be deployed to establish a perimeter to prevent anyone from crossing certain important locations. Hart et al. (2000) indicate that police dogs have a deterrent effect that makes them useful in certain situations. The deterrent effect discourages potential attackers or offenders from committing the crime when they see police dogs. That has caused police dogs to be integrated into many community policing programs and improves officers’ ability to perform other duties, rather than overly focusing on their protection or colleagues’ protection.

But the role of K-9 units in protecting officers’ emotional and psychological well-being is rarely discussed and acknowledged. Officers in K-9 units have reported having the dogs as constant and supportive companions, hence going the extra mile of spending time in play and extra training (Hart et al., 2000). According to Hart et al. (2000), police dog handlers spend more time with the canines than they do with their own families. Some live with these dogs, which makes them serve as companion animals or pets for the officers. As a result, police dogs provide helpful social support and protection against stress and loneliness in the workplace (Hart et al., 2000). According to Hart et al. (2000), being a police officer is an extremely stressful career and for a good reason. Police officers are exposed to potentially life-threatening situations frequently. There is very little room for error in most situations, and a slight mistake can have serious consequences for the officer. As a result, officers need to find ways to cope with the work stress and pressure, and the police dogs may serve that purpose. That is where the dogs come in to provide emotional support to their handlers and serve as a source of companionship.

Conclusion

K-9 units have become a standard in all police departments. They consist of police dogs and law enforcement officers who serve as the dog handlers. They use the dogs to perform a range of activities such as rescue operations, drug and explosive detection, controlling crowds, physical and emotional support to the officers on and off duty. Police dogs can perform these tasks because of their heightened senses.

References

Chronis, K. (2020, December 3). K-9s will detect firearms at Mayfair Mall. Fox6 Milwaukee.
https://www.fox6now.com/news/k-9s-will-detect-firearms-at-mayfair-mall

Jezierski, T., Adamkiewicz, E., Walczak, M., Sobczynska, M., Górecka-Bruzda, A., Ensminger, J., & Papet, E. (2014). Efficacy of drug detection by fully-trained police dogs varies by breed, training level, type of drug and search environment. Forensic Science International, 237, 112-118. Doi: DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.01.013

Furton, K., Greb, J., & Holness, H. (2010). The scientific working group on dog and orthogonal detector guidelines (SWGDOG). National Criminal Justive Reference Service, 155.
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.173.6258&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Handy, W. F., Harrington, M., & Pittman, D. J. (1961). The K-9 corps: The use of dogs in police work. J. Crim. L. Criminology & Police Sci., 52(3), 328-337.
https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5041&context=jclc

Hart, L. A., Zasloff, R. L., Bryson, S., & Christensen, S. L. (2000). The role of police dogs as companions and working partners. Psychological Reports, 86(1), 190-202. Doi: 10.2466/PR0.86.1.190-202.

Hastings, J. (2020, November 30). Missing Franklin Boy Found Safe Inside Church: Update. Patch.
https://patch.com/new-hampshire/concord-nh/search-underway-missing-11-year-old-franklin-nh

Naquin, T. (2020, December 3). Ohio woman arrested with hundreds of pounds of marijuana, thousands of fentanyl pills, and cocaine. Fox 8.
https://fox8.com/news/ohio-woman-arrested-with-hundreds-of-pounds-of-marijuana-thousands-of-fentanyl-pills-and-cocaine/

News On 6. (2020, November 29). Domestic Abuse Suspect Arrested, Tracked Down by TPD K9 Unit. https://www.newson6.com/story/5fc46656869ee50c259cdc08/domestic-abuse-suspect-arrested-tracked-down-by-tpd-k9-unit.