Unit Phone Number: (716) 286-4590 Number of Personnel: 1 K-9 Officer & 1 Service Dog HISTORY: In March of 1997 the Niagara Falls Police Department K-9 Unit was re-established after a nearly 20-year absence. When the unit was re-established, there was one K-9 Team (Consisting of one handler and Police Service Dog). The NFPD chose the Niagara Regional Police Service K-9 Unit for the selection and training of both Police Service Dog and the handler. Sgt. Jeff Hopkins is the K-9 Trainer for the Niagara Regional Police Service and is the K-9 advisor to the NFPD.
The NFPD K-9 Unit was funded through the asset forfeiture program money and continues to run on that money today coupled with donations from various groups and organizations.
Just six months after the initial K-9 team started, the NFPD deemed it necessary to expand the K-9 Unit to its current level of two K-9 teams. This was due to the overwhelming amount of requests for K-9 services. Due to the pending retirements of K-9 “Draco” and "Shanko" the NFPD has only one operational K-9 team, Officer Michael Bird and K-9 “Pharoh”. .
The Niagara Falls Police Department K-9 Unit was created to assist with narcotics searches, building searches, tracking, and public demonstrations. Today the K-9 Unit is not only responsible for those behaviors but many others as well.
MISSION: The current mission of the NFPD K-9 Unit is to fulfill its mandate of supporting the operational function of all units within the Police Department, while being assigned to the Roving Anti-Crime Unit (RAC). This is done through the deterrence and apprehension of criminals, the safety of both the Police and Public alike, and their role as Ambassadors of the Police service in their numerous public demonstrations. Since the inception of the K-9 Unit in 1997 the Unit has responded to over 14,000 calls specifically for Police service dog services, with nearly 200 successes in these cases. The NFPD K-9 Unit has been a tremendous public relations success by speaking at over 150 functions, of all types, reaching nearly 10,000 people. PURPOSE: The purpose of the NFPD K-9 Unit is to assist all units within the Police Department by increasing officer safety and assist in bringing cases to a successful close. This is possible by having highly trained Police service dogs and handlers. The NFPD K-9 Unit has dual-purpose; Police service dogs (trained in both patrol and narcotics work) that are trained and certified (in both New York and Canada) in the following areas: PATROL WORK:
-Obedience
-Agility
-Tracking
-Building Search
-Open Area Search
-Article Search for Evidence
-Criminal Apprehension
-Handler Protection
NARCOTICS DETECTION:
-Trained in all popular drugs that are commonly found in this area, and are known as aggressive identifiers (scratch and dig at the location of the odor of narcotics). TRAINING: Training consists of a 13-week basic course in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, hosted by the Niagara Regional Police Service where both the Police service dog and the handler attend the course together. After successful completion and certification of the basic course each K-9 team attends at least 16 hours a month of in service training held each Tuesday in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. In addition to that each team attends a Spring and Fall refresher course for 1 week (40 hours), twice per year. MISC: The NFPD K9 Unit in its continuing effort to remain a regional asset, continues to support any agencies requesting our K-9 services. We have assisted agencies from as far away as Lindsay, Ontario to Pennsylvania and from Rochester, NY to Cuba, NY and several in-between. These agencies include all Local, State and Federal agencies. GOALS: The goals of the Niagara Falls Police Department K-9 Unit are to continue to grow out of the role of a "nice to have a unit" to the role of a "must have unit", which we feel we are very close to attaining. Our goals are also to reach out to as many groups and organizations as possible and provide them with educational and entertaining public relations demonstrations. Yet another goal of the K-9 Unit is to expand and increase our donation base to help purchase some much needed equipment, again with no burden on the Department's budget. We also hope to continue to train our K-9 Teams in the most current methods and utilize them with the utmost effectiveness. | 
