K-9 Officer
Goal: Provide highly trained K-9s as a resource for other officers to aid in investigations.
Activities: Proactive patrol while conducting drug/narcotic interdiction activities, respond to requests from other officers to aid in locating concealed drugs/narcotics/contraband, and, for dual purpose dogs, provide enhanced protection and apprehension capabilities for officers faced with violent suspect.
Our K-9 handlers love their jobs and the bonds they forge with their dogs.
(the officers can't help but enjoy visits from the dogs as well - especially Emma).
Officers selected to be K-9 handlers are sponsored through a POST Certified K-9 handler's course, are provided all materials and supplies needed to house and maintain a K-9 full time, and all medical expenses for the K-9 are covered by the Department.
This is a position that is very rewarding, but is demanding in the level of commitment it takes to train and maintain a K-9 and keep them functioning as a certified K-9.
The St. George Police Department has K-9s whose primary focus is on narcotic detection. Two K-9s are actively assigned to Patrol Schedules and the third is operating with the Washington County Drug Task Force. We have had a long standing K-9 program dating back several decades. Our K-9 handlers love their jobs and the bonds they forge with their dogs. (the officers can't help but enjoy visits from the dogs as well - especially Emma).
Emma:
Emma is a purebred black labrador retriever. Her whelping date was on or about April 15th, 2015. She became a part of the SGPD team in November 2016 at the young age of 20 months old. She is affectionately referred to as the dancing dog throughout the schools in our area. This is due to her well known dancing and twerking she does when on drug odor she is trained to locate. This ultimately was the root cause of us having to have the vet remove her tail early on in her career. This was due to her shaking her booty with so much excitement that she repeatedly cut her tail open, causing health and work issues. She is now a four year veteran of narcotics detection work with over 400 documented drug arrests attributed to her deployments. She has seized several pounds of drugs from our city streets including a recent case in Arizona where a large amount of drugs were seized with an estimated street value of 3.6 million. Besides drug detection work her biggest passion would be playing fetch with a ball in her off duty time. Her biggest desire is to make her handler as happy as possible. She also loves the youth in our area and has been a big part of drug education in our local schools. She adores the attention from the students but more than that she loves to show off her abilities and training. She has been a critical part of the growth and success of the department's K-9 program. She is the best partner any handler could ask for.
Karly:
Karly was born 01/21/2017 and she came to us from Pacific Coast K9's out of Custer, Washington. She flew in on June 30, 2018 and she and her handler, Detective Travis Willinger completed Utah POST K9 school September 6, 2018. She's been assigned to the Washington County Drug Task Force her entire career thus far. She is trained to detect narcotics odor only, not criminal apprehension. She has a great temperament and is really good with kids and people in general. She was originally in training to be a service dog and she was washed out due to being too hyper and active. In dope work we call that strong drive which is what we like. Karly was then transitioned into dope detection work and she has flourished ever since. Karly loves to work and is extremely eager to do what she trained to do, every opportunity she has.
RETIRED K-9
Enzo
Enzo Raban Carlson Adams, was born April 20, 2014. He is a male Belgian Malinois. He worked for the SGPD from 2016-2023 with his first handler Ofc B. Raban (2yrs), his second handler Ofc J. Carlson (1yr) and his last handler was Ofc C. Adams. He was trained in several disciplines including tracking, article searching, narcotics detection and criminal apprehension. He was certified in narcotics detection and criminal apprehension through the Utah POST K9 certification program. He loved to work and was always ready to go. He was a natural hunter and hads A TON of energy which allowed him to work long hours with very high intensity. He loved playing tug and hanging with his two female dog pals (Sasha and Abby) at home. He didn't like cats or being left home when his handler was at training without him. He was great partner and a good boy!