Richmond K9 Officer Demo - A Virginia KC Community Event

The Richmond Police K9 Unit was started in the fall of 1957.  The K9 Corps (as it was called then) grew to approximately 23 dog teams over the years. The responsibilities of the K9 Teams were to conduct foot patrols in areas of high crime, respond to insecure building’s to conduct searches, and assist fellow police officer tracking down wanted criminals. The canine unit over the years has been credited with providing a valuable service to the Richmond Police Department and it's surrounding counties and the citizens of Richmond through public safety awareness and K-9 demonstrations.

The K9 Unit today still performs the same duties that it’s predecessors performed over 58 years ago.  The k9 Unit today has 12 k9 teams. The dog’s are still in demand and are a valuable asset to the Police Department. The criminal element today has gone to great lengths to try and fool law enforcement officers but with the dogs keen sense of smell, it is very difficult to hide anything from them.