In September, several law enforcement officers and their K9 partners spent a day at the Kent State City Center for an intensive training session.
The day was organized by Officer Anne Spahr of the Â鶹´«Ã½ Police Department, who explained that the units train regularly for a minimum of 16 hours each month.
Participating in this training session were Spahr and her K9 partner, Coco, of the Kent State explosive detection K9 team; Officer Miguel Witt and K9 Dexter, also of the Kent State explosive detection team; Officer Ed Stoltz and K9 Rex of the Cleveland State Police Department explosive detection team; Officer Pam Helmick and K9 Halo of the University of Akron Police Department’s explosive detection team; and Agent Andrew Koch of the Medway Drug Enforcement Agency’s narcotics detection team.
Spahr explained that the training involves placing, or hiding, training aids (narcotics and/or explosives) throughout the building and allowing the dogs to conduct a search just as they do when responding to bomb threats, protective sweeps or searches.
Cutline A: Law enforcement officers and their K9 partners during a training session at the City Center.
Cutline B: Kent State Officer Anne Spahr and Coco conduct a classroom search.
Cutline C: An officer and his K9 partner prepare to search.