NARCOTICS - The Sheriff’s Department has two canines assigned to the Narcotic Detail and one assigned to the Elk Grove Police Department (a contract city patrolled by the Sheriff’s Department).  The canines assist narcotic officers in locating narcotics hidden by criminals.  As you can imagine paranoid drug abusers hide their illegal drugs in some remarkable places.  It is certain that without the use of a well-trained canine and the canines keen since of smell many narcotic stashes would go undiscovered.

The canines are commonly used on probation searches of known “drug houses” and for warrant sweeps.  The canines can also be used on traffic stops to search vehicles.  The canines are there to assist officers in many ways.  Four of the patrol canines are crossed trained in narcotic detection.  The canines are trained in locating the four most common illegal drugs, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. 

EXPLOSIVES - The Sheriff’s Department has canines assigned to the Sacramento International Airport as well as canines assigned to the Explosive Ordinance Detail (E.O.D.).  The canines working the airport all have attended a 10-week National Explosive Detection Canine Team Program (N.E.D.C.T.P.) training course at Lackland AFB put on by the Department of Homeland Security TSA Support Branch.  Five out of the six canines are TSA canines, which are assigned to the Airport.  One of the canines was trained by our department, but had to go through a TSA evaluation before it was authorized to work at the Airport.  TSA requires the handlers to continually train and they monitor the training and utilizations.  TSA sets the standards and our department makes sure we get the training done correctly.  The canine teams are evaluated once a year.

The canines assigned to E.O.D. follow similar training guidelines; however, they train within the department.  The canines are certified on the odor recognition of several types of explosives and common components.  TSA and the Sheriff’s Department mandates that the information is classified and we don’t tell anyone what odors the canines are trained on.