Paws on Patrol School Safety Program: Part 5 – Sustained K9 Operations

“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” -Winston Churchill

Sustained operations for a mobile detection dog deployed in a School is built upon the balance between the three P’s: people, partnerships, and paws. This means that you should always consider the effects a Paws on Patrol School Safety Program can have on the people, the partnerships needed to sustain program consistency, and the importance of caring for your program’s detection dog.

People - I can tell you from experience that building a long-term program like Paws on Patrol will have an immediate impact on people. If you have or once had a dog in your home then you can begin to make the connection between having an animal on school property and its impact on reducing stress, improving morale, and creating opportunities to build relationships.

For example, pairing a dog with a School Resource Officer (SRO) can be an icebreaker for the SRO to engage and build rapport with students, conversation starters become easier because students are focused on the dog, and when students and school staff understand the dog’s purpose they become a combined force-multiplier further enhancing the effectiveness of the dog’s presence and the program.

Partnerships – as discussed early in the roadmap article, “any Consortium formed between multi-agency Stakeholders should have an agreement which provides documentation of the partnership and the consortium’s focus. Drafting a mission statement is a critical first step in the process”. Public and Private sector agencies working together can create a mission statement that best meets the needs of the School, School District, Law Enforcement and Community.

Paws – mobile detection dog technology deployed as part of an enhanced School Safety Program will have an immediate impact on mitigation, intervention, and education. Sustained operations must focus on developing standard operating procedures, or SOP’s, focused on leveraging the detection dog discipling for the detection of person-worn and/or concealed-carried firearms.

Case Study – K9 Amos [Auburn High School, Auburn AL]

K9 Amos is a great example of the impact a detection dog capability can have on a school program with sustained Operations. I am happy to share in the success of the K9 Amos story and have written several articles and posts on his impact. K9 Amos’ daily activity and impact can be viewed and followed on his very own school created and maintained Instagram account: amosfanpage_auburnhighschool.

 Contact Information:

For Consortium contact information please reach out via email at Michael.Larkin@gk9pg.com where I can connect you with one of our School Superintendents, Principals, Law Enforcement Partners or Global K9 Protection Group.