Dogs make the team, join police SWAT training

By Kelcy Dolan
Posted 10/29/15

“Perps [perpetrators] will fight 10 officers, but they don’t want to go up against a dog and get bit,” Aaron Steere, a canine handler for the Warwick Police Department, said Tuesday afternoon. …

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Dogs make the team, join police SWAT training

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“Perps [perpetrators] will fight 10 officers, but they don’t want to go up against a dog and get bit,” Aaron Steere, a canine handler for the Warwick Police Department, said Tuesday afternoon.

Fifteen SWAT officers joined Steere, his German shepard Viking, and Paul Wells and his dog Fox for three days of tactical training to help integrate the SWAT and Canine Divisions.

Although hosted by Warwick, Corporal Brad Smith and Canine Tactical Operations & Consulting conducted the training. Smith, founder of the organization, spent 30 years in the West Covina Police Department in California, 25 of it as a K9 handler and trainer and 18 as a designated SWAT dog handler. Smith developed Canine Technical Schools (CATS) and SWAT & K9 Interaction During Deployment School (SKIDDS). Warwick as well as departments from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Jersey received training this week over a three-day period.

Steere, who was a member of SWAT, attended the class previously in New Hampshire and believed it would be beneficial to bring to the department. Although many departments have both a SWAT and K9 team, they may not be used in tandem because of a lack of training, but they can often be an asset to each other.

“Being specialized in both, I know there’s a lot of benefit to having a dog on the team,” Steere said. “They can detect a threat long before we can. It’s not something that fits into every situation, but in some cases sending a dog in first can be safer for everyone.”

The SKIDDS training was held over three days, starting on Monday and ending Wednesday. Steere said it was a “crawl, walk, run” training, starting with simple exercises to get both the canines and the officers comfortable with one another, getting dogs accustomed to working under possible gunfire and to open area searches.

Steere explained that although SWAT officers attended the training, they could take the information back to their departments and have it geared for the “average patrolman” as well. Police dogs can be utilized to search homes that have been broken into, to prevent an ambush on officers or alert them to a threat as well as search for offenders fleeing from a crime. With all the efforts to keep officers as safe as possible, the training even included a way to keep the dog safe.

Roscoe Presley, a representative from RoboteX, a tech company that partners with law enforcement agencies, demonstrated the Avatar III, a robot that looks much like a miniature tank that is sent into high-risk situations as a “scout” sending video image of a space back to a tactical team. An officer can also speak through the robot to a suspect in an effort to calm them or even give commands to a police dog that has been deployed.

“You can send in this robot before you commit a dog or person to a possibly dangerous situation,” Presley said. “We have seen a huge drop in police standoffs and lives have been saved because of this technology.”

Although Warwick’s department does not have this technology, Steere said the training is useful if they were to work with another department that did.

The Avatar III and technology like it may be sent in first, but Presley noted that they only scope a room and that dogs have the power of scent and can detect a hiding suspect. Dogs are also very useful as an “intimidation factor.”

He said, “No matter how big or tough a perp is, when they hear that dog bark they’re going to get scared. Just hearing a dog can cause someone to comply with authorities and can help prevent the use of force on all sides. We look out for the welfare of the good and bad guys.”

Through this training Steere explained that handlers are learning to keep themselves better protected in high-risk situations. A handler wants to know what their canine is doing, and in doing so they may be exposing themselves to gunfire and other dangers. In union with a SWAT team, handlers learn how to communicate and work together with others.

“We always want a situation to end peacefully and for no one to get hurt,” Steere said. “We are very progressive and proactive about training. We try to go above and beyond to make sure we are prepared.”

Being prepared is a little pricey; Steere estimated the training cost at about $500 per person, but Warwick was offered discounts for hosting the event. The department received approval from the City Council to use funds seized from drug busts to pay for the training.

The irony, Steere joked, is that the money is usually a result of contraband the dogs have found. The department is taking their canine’s successes and investing back into the team.

Despite three days of intense training, the dogs kept their tails wagging and seemed happy to play the “games” all day long.

“Our work is there play,” Steere said. “At the end of the day we are a team and training like this builds confidence in a dog so in a real world situation they will know what to do.”

Although he couldn’t speak for the other canines involved, Steere said Viking slept like a baby at the end of each day.

For more information on Canine Tactical Operations & Consulting visit www.k9tacops.com.

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