The purpose of the K-9 Unit is to provide the citizens of Richland County with trained police service dogs to help locate illegal drugs, apprehend fleeing felons, detect explosive devices and find lost/missing persons. To accomplish this, the unit utilizes twenty-four police service dogs. With the exception of one electronics detection dog, two explosives detection dogs, and five human remains detection dogs, all of the dogs are full-service dogs, meaning they are trained in multiple skill sets: drug detection or explosives detection, tracking, patrol. Each dog has proven on numerous occasions to be an asset to the department and the community as a whole.
Each dog must be trained and certified/re-certified in all trained skill sets. As officers must be continuously trained in law enforcement, so must police dogs. Most of the training is conducted by the unit’s handlers and trainer several times a week. The K-9 Unit also invites other agencies to attend training sessions to assist in the training of their dogs, as Richland County has one of the most respected and successful K-9 Units in the state.
K-9 Bali
Staff Sergeant J. Newsom
K-9 Beans
Staff Sergeant J. Newsom
K-9 Gunner
Master Deputy J. Rustin
K-9 Jax
Master Deputy K. Mayo
K-9 Kiro
Master Deputy A. Jeffcoat
K-9 Kobe
Master Deputy B. Hodge
K-9 Kodak
Master Deputy S. Ramirez
K-9 Max
Master Deputy I. Page
K-9 Nevada
Master Deputy C. Sox
K-9 Raffe
Master Deputy J. McDevitt
K-9 Sonny
Master Deputy D. Washington
K-9 Wick
Master Deputy Z. Abdullah
K-9s Assigned to Specialized Units
Criminal Investigations
K-9 Aries
Lieutenant J. Britt
Fugitive Task Force
K-9 Vegas
Lieutenant G. Becker
Fugitive Task Force
K-9 Biko
Sergeant W. Cavanagh
Region 1 / Community Relations
K-9 Emy
Lieutenant G. Walmsley
Special Response Team
and Bomb Squad
K-9 Buddy
Investigator W. Cobia
Special Response Team
and Bomb Squad
K-9 Reba
Investigator J. Hampton
Special Victims Unit
Inv. C. Radford
K-9 Oakley
Criminal Investigations
K-9 Rudy
Investigator S. Merriman
K-9 Attila
Special Deputy M. Gaillot
K-9 Hammer
Special Deputy M. Galliot
K-9 Nikita
Special Deputy M. Galliot
K-9 Rex
Special Deputy M. Galliot
K-9 Shadow
Special Deputy M. Galliot