To support the Mission of the South Jordan Police Department by providing highly specialized police training and tactics in an effort to ensure the most effective and efficient police service animals are available to our community.

FUNCTION

The South Jordan Police K-9 Unit is a member of the Wasatch Front Police K-9 Association, which provides all member agencies the opportunity to train and deploy their K-9's simultaneously during critical incidents throughout Salt Lake County. The primary function of the K-9 Unit is to:

• Search for hidden suspects
• Apprehend fleeing or combative suspects
• Search for evidence left by a suspect
• To protect the handler and other officers
• Track a suspects path that has fled on foot
• Search for and detect the odor of Narcotics

The South Jordan Police K-9 Unit is an asset of the Patrol Division; therefore, South Jordan Police K-9 Officers also respond to regular calls for service beyond specific requests for a police service animal. The South Jordan Police K-9 Unit consists of a supervising Sergeant, and two K-9 Teams, both of which are dual-purpose Patrol/Narcotic Police Service Animals.

K-9 UNIT HISTORY

The K-9 unit was established in 2000 with K-9 "Cuffs", a Labrador Retriever which specialized in narcotics detection only. In 2002, the South Jordan Police Department added its first ever dual-purpose patrol dog, a Belgian Malinois named "Neo". K-9 "Neo" served until 2007 and retired with his handler after a very successful career, logging numerous criminal apprehensions and the detection of over 100 pounds of illicit narcotics.

A handler and his K-9 go through over 700 hours of initial training through the Utah P.O.S.T. K-9 program and undergo a rigorous written test as well as real life scenarios that test the dogs' performance before becoming certified.

To learn more about the K-9 Unit, or learn how you can help to support the division, please view our Frequently asked Questions.