Bonding With The Badge Working effectively with law enforcement by Andy Rebmann Connecticut State Police (Retired) K-9 Specialty Search Associates King County Search Dogs Northwest Disaster Search Dogs Kent, WA This paper was originally presented at the National Association of Search and Rescue Conference, Richmond VA 1997 and published in the Conference Proceedings. It was subsequently published in "Response - The Journal for Search and Rescue" Volume 16, Number 2 pp. 25-27 The agencies responsible for missing person search varies from state to state. It is generally a law enforcement agency designated by the state legislature that bears the legal responsibility for conducting a search. In many states, it is the county sheriff, however, it may be the police department, the state police, fire department or the warden service. It is responsible for all search activities including bearing liability for the actions of all resources used in the operation. Because of the wide variety of agencies involved, volunteer SAR Units need to educate the agency. If a unit is well established, a working relationship should exist. However, with the rapid expansion of SAR dog units, many complain that they are not requested for searches. The agency may have valid reasons for not requesting a specific group. It may be based on past experience or they may not be aware that the resource exists. In some areas, searches have traditionally been conducted primarily by foot searchers and the manager may hesitate to employ a resource he is not familiar with. If the public service agency has a K-9 unit, they may be the primary dog resource for a search. Police K-9 handlers are professionals. They get paid for training and using their dog in many law enforcement functions. The officer first must complete the police academy and work patrol prior to becoming a dog handler. Many officers apply for handler positions and only a select few qualify. After selection, the handler attends a basic K-9 training program that varies from eight to fourteen weeks, depending on the department. After the basic program is completed, the they are eligible for specialty training i.e. narcotics, bomb, or SAR etc. There is a strong bond between police dog handlers. They consider themselves an elite and may feel threatened by a volunteer unit. After all, who would attend all the training for free? There is definitely a different mind set between the volunteer and the paid K-9 handler. Police K-9 handlers have a broad spectrum of field experience and are suspicious about the training and experience of the civilian sector. After all, how many volunteer dog handlers have been shot at while trailing a person? The volunteer has to work hard to gain the respect and the trust of the police handler and also search management. Many police departments use their K-9 units as the first responder for a missing person search. It depends on the training philosophy of the department. For example, some states train their tracking trailing dogs to be non-aggressive when they locate the subject and do not hesitate to use them in all situations. Other departments train for an aggressive apprehension and their department policy prohibits the dogs use in any non-criminal search. These departments rely heavily on volunteer search units. Volunteer K-9 handlers are professionals. They are trained handlers and searchers. They have spent untold hours in the field and classroom training themselves and their partner. Yet the police K-9 handler may have input with the department as to the qualifications and suitability of the volunteer group as a search resource. It is not enough to form a group, train, decide that the group is ready to work on searches and call the local agency as say "here we are, please call us for any searches". The group has to take a pragmatic approach. The time to become involved with the local search agency is before anything happens, not at an actual operation. The group must market their services in advance. A search manager may feel uncomfortable if he is not aware of the qualifications and training of a resource. The volunteer should want to know in advance what will be required of them. The best way to gain mutual respect and trust is to become involved with the SAR Agency and the police K-9 handlers in advance. They can assess your capabilities and you will become familiar with their policy and procedures. If the police K-9 unit is involved, establish a rapport with the trainer. Meet with him and discuss your training and ask if your group can attend their training sessions. Ask what you can do to assist them. Attempt to schedule a mutual training session, even if it is just obedience and agility at first. Try to observe their search training. Everyone needs search subjects, so if your first experience is to act as a subject or to lay a trail, don’t be disappointed. Invite the trainer to attend your training sessions. If you use outside evaluators, you might consider asking them to observe and evaluate a certification test. Attitudes will not change overnight. It will take time to build a working relationship. However, if all parties know each others strengths and weaknesses, then they can work cooperatively at a search. The volunteer unit also need to contact the search managers for the agency. The managers maintain the resource list. Be prepared to objectively discuss the capabilities of your organization. Ask how you can assist with local searches. It is a good idea to provide a copy of your unit’s charter, standards and training records. Discuss equipment requirements and communication needs so that there is a complete understanding of policy and procedures. You may want to pursue a memorandum of understanding with the responsible agency. Some suggestions that may help prevent misunderstandings and conflicts are: Have written policies, procedures and standards. Make sure they are implemented. Standards need to be attainable, reasonable and applicable to all in the unit. Keep unit training records. They should cover all aspects of search training and be available to the agency if needed. Have an established call out procedure. It is the units responsibility to notify the handlers of a call, not the agencies. Establish one person as the liaison with the agency. It is easier for the search manager to develop a working relationship with one person, than to have many members of the unit calling for information. Make sure your members will be able to respond to searches if needed. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver. If response will be minimum during the day in the middle of the week, make sure they know. If necessary they can contact an additional resource to provide the needed personnel. There is nothing more frustrating to a search manager than to be told that a resource is available and they don’t respond. Be honest with the agency concerning the groups capabilities. If the handlers do not have the training or equipment for a specific search, let them know so they can contact someone else. Politics have no place at a search. There may be multiple units involved and everyone has to cooperate. Discuss the differences at another time. Provide unit overhead at the search. The unit operations leader does not need to be a dog handlers. (S)he must be competent in record keeping, mapping, communications and have a working knowledge of search management. This person is responsible for your deployment and in the unit interface with search management. Develop a public relations program, not just for fundraising, but as information for responsible agencies. Although search dogs have been used in the United States since the 1960’s, there are managers and police agencies who are unaware that they exist. Invite search managers to your training sessions. Let them observe your unit in action. Allow them to accompany a team on a practice search. If the agency sponsors a mock search, participate as a unit. Demonstrate your skills in concert with other search resources. Above all, act professionally. There are certain actions that should not be taken by a unit, if they want to remain a search resource with a particular agency. They include: Do not self deploy. There may be a reason that K-9 resources have not been requested. If you hear that a search is in progress and the unit hasn’t been called, one individual should call the responsible agency and inform them that the unit is ready to assist, if needed. If they decline the offer, stay away! If the search continues, call again to see if they can use fresh resources. Do not contact the family and offer services. Unit policy should cover whether it will consider requests from relatives to continue after the active search has been suspended. There are some real problems with liability working for the family. First, they may misconstrue your statement of capabilities which could create future liability problems. Second, your members will not be covered by the political subdivision in case of injury or loss of equipment. Most unit cannot afford liability coverage necessary. If contacted by the family, contact the involved agency and discuss their request. They may want an additional search done and will honor the request. Honor requests for confidentiality. This is very important in criminal investigations. Breaching their confidence will guarantee that the unit will not be considered as a resource in the future. Air differences directly with the agency. Participate fully in the debriefing. Analyze the search from the viewpoint of what worked, didn’t work and how operations can be improved. Don’t criticize the agency in public or in the media. Don’t criticize other dog groups to the agency. Search is a cooperative effort and another group may have specialized training that fits a particular need. Don’t consider an area your exclusive domain. Work cooperatively with other K-9 groups in the same service area. Below is one example of how the actions of one volunteer can have a lasting impact with an agency. In 1977, there was a massive search in Lebanon, CT for a 7 year old girl who disappeared on the family farm. On the third day of the search, a volunteer dog handler appeared at the command post and asked to participate. I had met her previously and observed her work, so we assigned her a search area that included the immediate area of the home. After a while, she reported that her dog had indicated on a farm pond. The pond had been thoroughly searched by divers the previous day, so I discounted the report. The handler then went to the family and told them of the indication. She stated that the State Police did not believe her assumptions and would do nothing about it. The family went to the media. As a result, I supervised the pumping of the pond. No victim! This was twenty years ago, and the troopers who worked on the search have been promoted to supervisory positions. They still recall the incident and volunteer search groups are not willingly used to this day. Fortunately, such situations are rare but they do happen. It takes a lot of time and effort to develop a working relationship. In Washington State, many counties have Search and Rescue Associations that include the volunteer units responding to searches. In King County, King County Search & Rescue Association is made up of 10 units, including 4 x 4 Vehicles, Explorer Search and Rescue, Mountain Rescue, Ski Patrol etc. totaling approximately 2500 volunteers. All unit members must meet the state searcher standards and their unit standards. King County Police Special Operations Unit, which is charged with missing person search under state law, provides coordination of volunteer activities, search management and technical resource i.e. divers and helicopter. The search coordinators from the police actively participate in the Association. It provides a large pool of trained resources for all types of searches. These organizations are crucial to the conduct of many operations. K-9 resources in California traditionally were provided by three groups (WOOF, CASSADA and CARDA). However, the recent trend has been for the Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Reserve to establish a search dog section. Many use the CARDA standards for certification, but the handlers can deploy locally under the Sheriff’s reserve more rapidly, and there is better accountability for actions at a search. The K-9 unit should be a member there is a regional organization of volunteer search groups. Communication is a two way street . Here are two examples of how we have handled the situation with our groups: We have invited the search managers for the Puget Sound FEMA Task Force to attend and observe at disaster training sessions. In addition, all deployable teams attend local Task Force evaluations twice a year, which are observed by team leaders and managers. This builds a respect for the work of the dog team and allows the handlers to determine how best to work with the search teams, prior to deployment. It also demonstrates the capabilities of the individual teams for management. We attend other units training sessions and demonstrate how we can work in concert with the other unit. Recently, a handler attended the Mantrackers meeting and presented and informational program on trailing dogs and how they can work with man trackers. It takes time and effort to build a relationship with other units and agencies. Respect and trust do not develop overnight. Any program you implement must be on going and any problems must be addressed as they arise. "High on a mountain side there stood a magnificent oak tree with a huge trunk and massive spreading branches. Nearby stood a rather small insignificant willow tree. When the snows came the oak stood there with its branches reaching out and the snow resting on top. The willow, on the other hand, was bent over with the snow. Eventually a little snow melted and the willow sprang back up. More snow came and the oak took the additional load and the willow bent over then sprang back up. Even more snow came and the oak took it and the willow bent over again, then sprang back up. Finally so much snow came that the great oak trembled and split to pieces and ceased to exist. The willow, on the other hand, continued to bend and spring back. The moral is obvious, be like the willow, flexible and accommodating." Volunteers and law enforcement form a very important partnership. We all need to work to make sure that the primary motivation is locating the victim "so that others may live".

Home | Articles | Instructors | Courses | Schedule | Store | Links | E-Mail Copyright © 2001 Cadaverdog, Inc. All Rights Reserved