Passive Alert Canine (K9) Detection Program

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2018

In November 2016, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved and funded the implementation of a Passive Alert Canine (K9) Detection Program developed by the Los Angeles County Probation Department, the largest in the nation. The K9 Unit consists of K9 teams specifically trained in the detection of illicit narcotics and/or firearms that assist Los Angeles County Probation Officers perform residential searches by efficiently increasing the findings of controlled substances and/or firearms in the possession of juvenile and adult felony offenders. It was the Department’s hope to be able to develop and gain support to implement this first of its kind program for the Probation Department, by applying the special skill set of highly trained K9s to decrease the possession, use and sales of narcotics, and possession of firearms by the offenders under our supervision. Our new four-legged professional partners have impressively searched 106 residences and detected 2,420 rounds of ammunition, numerous amounts of narcotics, and firearms.