Inside the Texas DPS K-9 program: Strengthening border security and combating crime

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"We instrumentality a canine from a greenish canine that knows perfectly thing and alteration that canine into a moving machine," Lt. Lamb said. "Whether that needs to beryllium cause detection, explosive detection, oregon a tracking dog, we commencement present with the basics and past nonstop them retired crossed Texas."

Texas DPS dogs signifier acclimating to "controlled chaos" portion boarding helicopter.  (Sarah Alegre)

The programme prides itself connected vulnerability to real-life scenarios, including controlled chaos situations specified arsenic chopper deployments. 

"Any benignant of vulnerability we tin present them to is critical," Lt. Lamb said. "We privation to marque definite that erstwhile they get retired there…whether it’s an explosive detection ngo oregon a cause interdiction operation…they tin execute without shutting down."

DPS presently runs 74 K-9 teams statewide, including 51 cause detection teams, 9 explosive detection teams, and astir 13 tracking teams. Many of these groups are deployed arsenic portion of Operation Lone Star, a authorities inaugural to halt cause smuggling and unauthorized borderline crossings. Tracking dogs, specifically, play a large relation astatine the border, helping successful the apprehension of radical trying to flight instrumentality enforcement. 

K-9 handler Landon Ravun is stationed successful Del Rio and is well-prepared for immoderate scenario. Body camera footage shows his grooming enactment to bully usage during a ngo past summertime erstwhile Ravun and his K-9, Bona, tracked down a fugitive wanted for murder. 

"It’s a ace important occupation that we do. Getting to spell down her and ticker the capabilities and the astonishing things she tin bash is incredible," Ravun said.

Border dogs signifier real-life acquisition of tracking down unauthorized unit successful rugged terrain.  (Sarah Alegre)

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The grooming programme for handlers and their dogs is intensive, with each brace undergoing 9 weeks of associated acquisition aft the canine completes a pre-training signifier that lasts betwixt six and 15 weeks. 

Lt. Lamb emphasized the value of the handler-dog relationship, noting that "these dogs become part of the handler’s family. When I graduated with my canine successful 2014, she became portion of my life. When she retired, my household got to walk clip with her, but erstwhile she passed distant successful 2022, it was similar losing a family member."

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Beyond borderline enforcement and cause detection, the DPS K-9 programme has besides played an important relation successful search-and-rescue missions. One of our tracking dogs helped find a 38-year-old peculiar needs antheral who wandered distant successful Los Naples Park. He had been missing for 4 to six hours, was severely dehydrated, and needed contiguous help. 

"Our K-9 squad recovered him and got him backmost to his family," Lt. Lamb recalled. "That infinitesimal unsocial made the full programme worthy it."

K-9 Frio takes successful aerial views portion adjusting to caller heights.  (Sarah Alegre)

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With ongoing enlargement efforts, DPS aims to further integrate K-9 units into operations crossed Texas, ensuring that instrumentality enforcement has highly trained dogs acceptable for immoderate mission.