K9 Team

The McMinnville Police Department equips and maintains three K-9 teams. These teams consist of a designated patrol Officer “Handler”, and their K-9 partner. The Police Department currently has one patrol/tracking K-9 teams and two drug detection K-9 teams.

The police dogs are chosen for their superior ability to detect and locate persons, property, and evidence. The patrol/tracking K-9 is trained and primarily used to track and locate persons that have fled on foot from crime scenes. However, the teams are also used for covering other officers on alarm calls, in building searches, on fight calls, in locating lost or missing persons, and in conducting security checks of businesses. The drug detection K-9’s are trained and primarily used to locate drug related evidence and contraband. The K-9’s can be deployed to locate evidence in a variety of environments including vehicles, residences, businesses, schools and correctional facilities.

The K-9 teams offer demonstrations at numerous community events throughout the year. The K-9 teams have done demonstrations for local high school classes and other educational programs. The demonstrations provide attendees with insight on how canines are trained, and how the K-9 teams provide services to the community.

One K-9 team has the potential to save the Department hundreds of work hours per year because of the dog’s keen auditory and olfactory senses. These highly trained teams are a valuable resource to the Department. As other jurisdictions either do not have K-9 programs of their own, or their K-9’s are unavailable, the McMinnville Police Department’s K-9 teams are often called upon to assist other agencies.

The Department has continued its partnership with the Oregon Police Canine Association (OPCA). This organization hosts training classes and seminars throughout the state to update agencies on laws and procedures dealing with the use of canines. The OPCA establishes minimum requirements for each K-9 team and recertifies teams once per year. The McMinnville Police Department’s K-9 teams train throughout the year to maintain their certification standards.