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Learn More(Lawrenceville, Georgia) During the week of August 17-21, 2015, members of the Gwinnett Police K-9 unit attended a Canine Handler Instruction and Training Seminar (HITS) in Jacksonville Florida. These events are vendor sponsored to reduce the cost to attending officers. As customary, many vendors donate products that are given away throughout the seminar as “door prizes”. While attending the training, Gwinnett Police won a Belgian Malinois puppy, donated by Metro-Dade K-9 Services, located in Miami.
The cost of a police dog can range from $2,500 for a puppy to more than $14,000 for a fully trained, dual purpose dog. After being approved by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, the K-9 was flown to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and picked up on November 30th. In recognition of the donation, the K-9 has been named, “Dade” by members of the Gwinnett Police K-9 Unit.
Dade was born on April 15th, 2015 in Trnava, Slovakia and arrived in the United States on August 18th. Dade’s primary responsibility, if he successfully completes training, will be to search for lost or missing persons. In addition, he will be available to serve as an ambassador for the department at a variety of public events. Currently, the K-9 unit consists of nine dual-purpose, patrol/narcotics and detection K-9 teams. Patrol dogs are trained to locate people through tracking/trailing or searching an area.
During 2014, the Gwinnett Police K-9 Unit responded to 45 cases involving missing juveniles. All of our current dogs are more than capable of conducting these types of searches. However, missing persons, especially children or adults with a diminished mental capacity, will often hide when searchers are in the area. This behavior is associated with criminals attempting to evade and escape apprehension. A dog does not have the ability to distinguish the difference between a fleeing criminal and a missing person. When a patrol K-9 is deployed to search for a person, they are automatically in the mode of handler protection because of instinct and training. A “non-bite” trained dog such as Dade will be an asset to the citizens of Gwinnett County.
