The Abington Police K-9 Unit attended the 7th Annual U.S. Police Cainine Workshop
By Jack Firneno
Wire Editor
The nose knows — and Abington police want to keep it that way.
Last week, members of the Abington Police K-9 Unit spent two days in Lower Bucks County for the 7th Annual U.S. Police Canine Workshop.
The eight Abington officers — four human, four quadruped — first attended a workshop at Armstrong Middle School, where training focused on apprehension skills and abilities to detect narcotics and explosives.
The next day, Abington, among various departments from Bucks, Montgomery and Delaware counties, along with officers from Cherry Hill, converged in Neshaminy State Park to have their tracking skills tested to maintain United States Police Canine Association certification.
“It gives you more confidence as a handler, knowing that the dog is doing the right thing, and that the training is working,” said Abington Officer Scott Dinsmore.
These workshops are held by the USPCA, a nationwide organization that supports canine police work by establishing working standards and enhancing work techniques, providing legal assistance in the event of civil suits against police dogs, and promoting communication and collaboration among K-9 units.
Abington is part of the USPCA’s Region 6, which includes Pennsylvania police departments as far away as Harrisburg, and parts of New Jersey. It’s not mandatory for K-9 units to be certified-USPCA members, but those that are say it’s worth the time and effort to stay certified.
“I’ve seen it with our dogs, it brought our unit to a higher level,” said Officer Mike Schum of the Bensalem Police Department. “It raises the bar to adhere to their standards, and helped our dogs greatly.”
This is the first year Bensalem is hosting the workshop and certification, but as members of the USPCA for almost 15 years, they’re hardly among strangers.
“A lot of departments keep to themselves, but you don’t learn that way,” explained Schum.
Events like these allow different forces to reach out to exchange techniques and insights. “It’s beneficial to have multiple units here at once. You learn new things,” agreed Dinsmore.
But even if there’s some collaboration — and a little friendly competition — for the human officers, the focus is still mainly on the dogs. On the certification day, the various units were spread out across Neshaminy State Park while their dogs were each judged on their performance on various tracks.
Here, dogs were sent out to track a scent through clearings and wooded areas. In each “track,” there’s a small item, maybe a shotgun shell casing or piece of a wallet, that the dogs must find based on the scent they’re given. Their performance is then graded by judges.
“We try to do real-life scenarios, like if a guy takes off,” said Schum.
Each track must be clear for a half-hour between runs so the scents are cleared. Then, it’s a matter of how long each dog takes to complete the task.
“You could be done in two minutes, or 15 to 20 if they have a hard time,” noted Schum.
