The Denver Hospice – The Mask Project 2012
Auction Ends: May 13, 2012 10:00 PM MDT

Wall of Heroes

Aurora Police Department K-9 Unit - Chief Daniel Oates*

Item Number
543
Sold
510 USD to lbrevard
Number of Bids
16  -  Bid History

Item Description

The Aurora Police K-9 Program began in 1975 with 1 dog and handler, Officer Goetsch and his K-9 partner, Moose. The unit has grown to seven handlers and dogs today. It is an award-winning and highly respected unit within all of Colorado and the larger mountain states region.

During the early years of the K-9 Unit, the teams were used to search for suspects, search buildings and for officer protection. In recent years, the K-9 Unit has expanded its capabilities to include narcotics and explosives detection.

While the primary purpose of the unit is to support patrol operations, the K-9 Unit is regularly used by APD's other special units, especially SWAT, and by other police departments and federal law enforcement agencies for a variety of special applications.

Police dogs offer great value to an urban police department. The primary benefit is the safety provided to the officers. Dogs will search areas that would be dangerous for officers alone to search. If a suspect chooses to attack, fight with or resist officers, a police K-9 will often prevent such an attack or flight just by his mere presence. If a suspect is still intent on fighting or fleeing, a well trained dog can prevent injury to the officers and minimize injury to the suspect. The dogs also offer a financial benefit to the city in that they can search an area much more efficiently and quickly than a whole team of officers, freeing officers up for other duties.

All of Aurora’s police dogs are males. The current breeds used by the APD are Belgian Malinois, Dutch Shepherd and German Shepherd. The dogs live at home with their officer partners/handlers. The Department provides all of the needed items for the dog to include kennels, dog houses, food, equipment, specially equipped police cars, and veterinary care.

A typical dog's length of service is 10 years. It takes four months to train an officer and his/her K-9 partner to be a fully effective and productive team. The officers and their K-9 partners are among the most popular symbols of the Aurora Police Department and often participate in demonstrations for citizens and in public and charity events that showcase the Police Department.

Item Special Note

*** This mask comes with a premium - K9 unit T-shirt with emblems/patches and police coins.

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