Aurora Police K-9 Unit

The Aurora Police Department K-9 Unit was formed in 1975 with a single dog, Moose, and handler Officer Goetsch. Since then, the unit has grown to six dogs with their handlers (a K-9 team is a dog and handler)and a sergeant.

The K-9 unit performs a variety of tasks from searching buildings for suspects to officer protection.Recently, five dogs have been trained in narcotics detection and the sixth specializes in explosives
detection.

The primary duty of K-9 teams is to support patrol officers, but they are frequently used by other units in the department due to their special capabilities.

K-9 teams work swing shifts covering seven days a week. There is always a K-9 team on call during offshift hours. The K-9 teams train one day a week, often with members of other metro area K-9 teams.

Police dogs are a unique asset to the city. The primary benefit is the safety provided to the officers. Dogs will search areas that would be dangerous for officers alone to search. If a suspect wants to attack or fight with officers, the mere presence of a dog will often times prevent any violence. If the suspect still fights,
the dog can prevent injuries to officers and can often minimize potential injury to the suspect. The dogs offer an additional benefit in that they can search large areas much faster than a team of patrol officers, letting those officers handle other duties.

Dogs

It requires a very special animal to function as a police canine. These dogs are expected to