Police Dogs History

Introduction
Humans, for a number of purposes, have utilized dogs since the beginning of time. In fact, the canine was the first domesticated animal. Dogs are a subspecies of the grey wolf, which is known as one of the most efficient hunting and tracking animals. Since its domestication, the dog has been the most widely used and kept working, hunting, and pet animal in history. The dog breeds that we have today are for the most part, relatively new. Even though dogs were domesticated thousands of years ago, most breeds are only a few hundred years old. In that time, breeders have pushed out the behaviors that are undesirable to the customer and bred purposely to keep certain characteristics. Through this breeding, the subspecies has been diversified
into hundreds of new breeds. Because of this, dogs have “more behavioral and morphological variation that any other land mammal.” (Police Canines in History 2013)
We do not know the exact time when dogs were domesticated, however, it is thought that they were first used to help early humans to catch their food. The dog’s extremely sensitive nose, and ears would have helped humans track their food. For comparison, dogs have over two hundred million olfactory sensory cells in their nasal cavity, while humans only have five million of these specialty cells. (Dorriety, J. K. 2005)
As far back as the Peloponnesian War, the Corinthians were known to use dogs for defensive purposes. They have stood guard at forts, and walked sentry posts and searched for the wounded in battle. (Dorriety, J. K. 2005) Since as early as Roman times, humans have used canines for things such as hunting and a security presence. Ancient peoples such as the Romans and Spaniards used dogs in time of war. Recently, German, British, and American military forces have all benefitted from the use of canines alongside their troops. These wartime dogs were all trained for certain purposes to help their human counterparts. Their roles include: sentry dogs, scout or patrol dogs, messenger dogs, and mine dogs. During the Korean War, about 1,500 dogs were used as sentries. During the war in Vietnam, American troops used canines to clear caves, and tunnels of the Vietcong soldiers, as well as to sniff out booby traps and explosives, such as land mines. Surprisingly, after these wars, these service dogs were rehabilitated and returned to the people who allowed the United States military to use them. (Police Canines in History 2013)
Around the world, police have been using canines for over a hundred years. In 1888, the English used Bloodhounds to search for the notorious “Jack the Ripper”. During that time, they allowed the police to carry the canines during their patrols. In 1899, in Ghent, Belgium, the police began to formally train dogs to work with police officers. This new training enhanced other people’s interest in using canines for police work. By the early 1900s, Germany had police dogs in more that six hundred of their largest cities. Just before 1940, South London had two specialty trained Labrador retrievers work with the Metropolitan Police Force to accompany their officers on patrol. (Police Canines in History 2013)
The earliest use of police dogs in the United States was in South Orange, NJ and the New York City Police Department.
This began by around 1907. Between 1907 and 1952 there were only fourteen police dog programs, all cluttered around the Northeast, with the exception of Berkeley California and Muncie, Indiana. When the 1960s hit, the modern era of police dogs began in the United States. Canine teams were appearing all of the country and the movement was considered to be a fad. (Dorriety, J. K. 2005) By the time the 1970s rolled around in the United States, the use of police dogs was a mainstay. The canines were now considered part of the police force itself. Some of them even received their own badges and uniforms. (Police Canines in History 2013) As of 1989, there a over seven thousand canine teams across the United States. These teams range in size, from one hundred twenty five in Philadelphia, to smaller departments that may only have one or two teams. Both rural and urban departments have found ways to utilize the canine as apart of their department. (Dorriety, J. K.
2005)
Out of the few hundred dog breeds that were mentioned earlier, there are a few breeds that are more widely known for their use in law enforcement. The most common is the German Shepard. The German Shepard is widely trained for everyday patrol uses. Other police dogs include, but are not limited to the Labrador Retriever, Belgian Malinois, and the Dutch Shepard. Certain breeds may or may not be used for certain specific tasks, such as sniffing out illegal drugs, explosives, missing person, or cadavers. (Police Canines in History 2013)
The German Shepard originated in Germany, as pointed out by the name of the breed.
These dogs are often times preferred by law enforcement agencies because of their strength, intelligence and ease of teaching, size, obedience, and their intimidating presence. The German Shepard is used worldwide as a narcotics and explosive detection dog, as well as tracking and apprehending human suspects that may be missing or wanted. The Labrador Retriever, or Lab, is another widely used police canine. Labs are even tempered and are calm around children ad the elderly, which makes these dogs a friendlier alternative to the German Shepard. The Lab is a very athletic dog and loves to play. Labs are most frequently used for detection work in law enforcement. This means they are commonly used to track human suspects, but are not used for suspect apprehension. The Belgian Malinois is another popular dog used by many law enforcement agencies across the country. This breed is used for things such as detecting the odor of illegal drugs, explosives, and accelerants, and for tracking and apprehension of suspects. The Dutch Shepard, native of Holland, is another working dog. This dog breed is used for odor detection of drugs and explosives, along with tracking and apprehending suspects. Finally, a breed that most people don’t think about when it comes to police dogs is the Giant Schnauzer. This is another German originated breed from the 17th Century. The Giant Schnauzer was first bred to assist on
farms to drive livestock to the market and even the guard the farmers land. Eventually the breed moved out of the farming industry and was moved to the city where it was used as a guard dog. This breed was a popular military dog in World War I and World War II. Giant Schnauzers have been used for detecting the odor of illegal drugs, and explosives and for tracking and apprehending suspects. Bloodhounds were also widely used, especially by the police in England. The Bloodhounds long ears were perfect for picking us scents and tracking missing persons, and suspects. These dogs were not used for apprehending suspects, but Bloodhounds are known for having the best smell among all canines. They have in excess of three hundred million olfactory scent receptors, one hundred million more than most other breeds. Bloodhounds have such a reliable sense of smell that evidence gathered from them is admitted in court. Besides tracking scents on the ground, Bloodhounds can also track scents through the air. (Police Canines in History 2013)
There are many examples of Police and service dogs playing prominent roles historically. Here are just a few. Some you may have heard of.
Rin Tin Tin (September 10, 1918 – August 10, 1932) was a male German Shepherd that was an international star in motion pictures. An American soldier, Lee Duncan, rescued him from a World War battlefield. Duncan trained Rin Tin Tin and obtained silent film work for the dog. (Rin Tin Tin. 2017, April 08)
Rin Tin Tin was an immediate box-office success and went on to appear in 27 Hollywood films, gaining worldwide fame. Along with the earlier canine film star Strongheart, Rin Tin Tin was responsible for greatly increasing the popularity of German Shepherd dogs as family pets. The profitability of his films contributed to the success of Warner Bros. studios. (Rin Tin Tin. 2017, April 08)
After Rin Tin Tin died in 1932, the name was given to several related German Shepherd dogs featured in fictional stories on film, radio, and television. Rin Tin Tin, Jr. appeared in some films, but was not as talented as his father. Rin Tin Tin III, said to be Rin Tin Tin's grandson, but probably only distantly related, helped promote the military use of dogs during World War II. (Rin Tin Tin. 2017, April 08)
Duncan groomed Rin Tin Tin IV for the 1950s television series The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, but the dog performed poorly in a screen test and was replaced in the TV show with the public led to believe otherwise. (Rin Tin Tin. 2017, April 08)
Another canine officer is Mattie, a black Labrador Retriever with the Connecticut State Police. Mattie was the first operational canine to come out of the Accelerant Detection Canine School run by the ATF and the CSP in 1986. While there was another yellow lab named Nellie that finished the program in 1984 as a proof of concept, Mattie was actually certified for the Connecticut State Police in September of 1986 and placed in service. So acute are these dogs' abilities that ATF research has found that canines are more sensitive to detecting accelerants in the field than instruments. In fact, Auburn University's Institute of Biological Detection has determined that canine olfactory systems can detect at a level of parts per quadrillion. Levels may be even greater than this but there are no instruments to confirm this. (Mattie the Black Labrador. n.d.)
Mattie's handler, Connecticut State Police Trooper Douglas Lancelot, has never ceased to be amazed at her abilities. She was able to identify 17 different accelerants in a fires aftermath. Even if the amounts were only a few drops. While waiting for fires to be extinguished, Trooper Lancelot and Mattie would often wander about the crowds at the scene. So acute was her ability that Mattie would identify the suspects within the onlookers. Mattie worked for the Connecticut State Police for 11 years and retired in 1997. She has led the way for many other Accelerant Detection Canines throughout the country. (Mattie the Black Labrador. n.d.)
Cloud II, also a German Shepherd, was one of the most famous police dogs in Canadian history. During their four-year partnership, Cloud II and his handler, Provincial Constable Ray Carson succeeded in capturing 123 fugitives. Cloud II was a well-known member of the OPP’s canine team having appeared, along with Carson, on Front Page Challenge on November 5th, 1974, where they “stumped” the panel. (Cloud II- A Hero's Life. 2012)