Erie Police Dept.'s K-9 unit officially sworn in, begin patrol duties
Three police dogs and their handlers are ready to hit the streets.
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'The canines here, they're a force multiplier and are very good to have on scene. Regardless of whether they're out or not, their presence is very important,' said Brock Grice, patrolman and K-9 handler with the Erie Police Department.
Patrol officers and the three dogs, named Atlas, Bo and Deacon, just finished a five-week training course in Warren, Ohio.
There, they were drilled on things like tracking down suspects, personal items, guns, drugs and explosives.
'They're going to help make the streets safer. There has been numerous times where maybe a foot pursuit happened, and maybe a gun was tossed. We need to be able to find it. These dogs can do that on a level that a human could never. Quickly finding dangerous articles so it doesn't get into the hands of say, a kid,' said Dan Potts, patrolman and K-9 handler with the Erie Police Department.
A dog and their handler will be on duty all three shifts of the day, with one on each shift.
The dogs are trained to recognize certain gestures and commands, which, when spoken, are in Dutch.
So, with these dogs now in service, what does the public need to know when it comes to interacting with them?
'We're all dog lovers and we understand that draw to really come up and pet them. These just aren't the dogs for that. As you can see, he's pretty mild-mannered, but they know when to work,' said Arthur Rhoades, patrolman and K-9 handler with the Erie Police Department.
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Even off the clock, there's a lot of training and bonding with their handlers necessary to keep the unit sharp.
And if funding for the unit isn't a concern, thanks to state grants, EPD would like to further expand it.
'It would be great to get three more dogs. We have three right now, three more dogs would be perfect. Eventually, maybe even nine dogs. If we could get two dogs on each shift, that would be perfect,' said Curtis Waite, sergeant of the EPD K-9 unit.
The unit is already seeing usage as the dogs were called in to clear the Erie Fire Department and the surrounding area of explosives ahead of Governor Josh Shapiro's visit to Erie last week.
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