Law enforcement agencies from across the two-state participate in K-9 training - WJBF-TV

COLUMBIA COUNTY, G.A. (WJBF) – More than 60 law enforcement agencies from across Georgia and South Carolina are in Columbia County this week. It’s for the annual K-9 police training. This is the first time the seminar is being held in Columbia County.

“So her reward is usually a toy, but I forgot it in the truck,” said Phil Richie a handler with Alpharetta Police Department.

Raider is a K-9 with the Alpharetta police department. She just finished finding what was supposed to be drugs buried in the ground. It’s a part of the rigorous k9 training hosted by the Columbia County Sheriff’s department.

“They train everyday, but when they learn the newest, latest techniques they come together like this quarterly or semi annually to share all the new knowledge that folks come up with,” Sheriff Clay Whittle with Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.

But this isn’t Raider’s first sniff at the job. She’s been a part of the Alpharetta team for more than 5 years now and during that time she’s seized more than a million dollars worth of drugs and weapons. Her handler, Phil Richie, credits trainings like these for those accolades.

“The first time we ever did it, we never practiced burying anything so it was new to her and she didn’t have any idea to sniff on the ground and that was before she was even trained for tracking. So anyway, we came to this and hit a speed bump, but we came back and she nailed it,” said Phil Richie, Alpharetta Police Department.

Handlers tell NewsChannel 6 that most of the k9s started their training when they were just puppies.

“We what they call imprint them when they’re puppies and young we start training them on those orders we find what they’re attracted to and transfer that odor to the narcotics,” said Matthew Bautsch a handler, with the Atlanta Police Department:

Matthew Bautsch is Echo’s handler. They’re from the Atlanta police department. Bautsch says when the k9s are puppies you can tell whether they’re fit to be working dogs or house dogs. Sniffing wasn’t the only training these k9s got on Monday. They went through different workstations, one of which included real-life scenarios.

“We want them to control themselves control their energy levels not be super hectic and all over the place. Just stay here in this same original spot that he’s bit and not move up and down the arm or go for different locations,” said Michael Nezsbit, Trainer.

This training will continue into Tuesday and conclude on Wednesday.

Law enforcement agencies from across the two-state participate in K-9 training

Law enforcement agencies from across the two-state participate in K-9 training

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source: https://www.wjbf.com/top-stories/law-enforcement-agencies-from-across-the-two-state-participate-in-k-9-training/

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