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 eighteen police service dogs. With the exception of one electronics detection dog and one explosives detection dog, 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.
Lt. A. Cox
K-9 Kai
Sgt. J. Newsom
K-9 Bali
Sgt. G. Walmsley
K-9 Emy
Dep. A. Ellison
K-9 Kiro
Dep. J. McDevitt
K-9 Sonny
Dep. K. Mayo
K-9 Jax
Dep. S. Ramirez
K-9 Kodak
Dep. J. Rustin
K-9 Sindia
Dep. W. Taylor
K-9 Kobe
K-9s Assigned to Specialized Units
Fugitive Task Force
Lt. G. Becker
K-9 Rocco
Fugitive Task Force
Sgt. W. Cavanagh
K-9 Biko
Special Response Team
and Bomb Squad
Inv. W. Cobia
K-9 Buddy
Special Victims Unit
Inv. C. Radford
K-9 Oakley
Special Response Team
Deputy S. Merriman
K-9 Rudy