Canine (K9) Officer: Job Description, Requirements & Salary

Canine officers, sometime referred to as K9 officers, perform some of the same duties and tasks as standard police officers. A K9 unit job description includes patrolling the community to prevent and respond to crimes, performing investigations, locating and arresting perpetrators and guarding prisoners. Some of the differences for canine officers come in the form of the care they give their canine partners, including grooming, feeding and caring for their health.

More importantly, officers paired with dogs must work with them in a variety of scenarios, such as searching for cadavers, explosives, narcotics and accelerants. Handlers must make sure that their dogs are obedient and follow commands both on and off of the leash, and that they are capable of performing a building search as well as a search for lost and missing persons and felons. In the event that a piece of evidence is lost, a canine officer may work with the dog to search for it. Police dogs also protect officers from attacks, so they must be trained and handled to maintain the right level of aggression without becoming overly violent.

In addition to local police forces, canines and their handlers are used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Security Administration, Homeland Security and the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Dogs are used by each of these agencies because they are powerful tools of law enforcement. Not only are dogs extensively trained to respond to their handlers' commands, but they are also able to sniff out drugs, explosives, and contraband more effectively than many other tools used by law enforcement officers. This makes K9 officers critical to the completion of the goals of these law enforcement agencies.

K9 officer requirements include being able to handle and care for police dogs.

Canine officers, much like regular police officers, should have either a high school diploma or a college degree with a majority of courses focused on police science, police evidence and law, criminology and general law. Police training academies also provide training to qualified candidates. The exact requirements of police academies vary from state to state, therefore it is important to know what is involved in police academy training for your state as you prepare for this rigorous instruction. Prior law enforcement experience is needed to gain experience and qualify for the canine handling role. Federal agencies may have higher thresholds or different requirements, such as knowledge of customs laws, for their canine officers.

Some physical education classes may be useful to help canine officers keep up with and effectively train their canine partners. Canine officers must also undergo specific training to handle their new partners. Most agencies establish their own system for training the dogs and the officers, so the educational steps and locations will vary. Once the initial training has been completed, a canine officer will continuously work with his or her dog so it remains in excellent shape mentally and physically.

What Does It Take to Be a K9 Officer?

There are numerous skills which are essential to success as a K9 officer, as seen in the following list:

• Physical and mental strength
• Care and respect for animals
• Effective communication
• Stamina and determination
• Knowledge of laws and regulations
• Quick decision-making abilities

Each of these skills is utilized in the field by canine officers on a daily basis. Because of the demands and pressures of this occupation, canine officers must be able to effectively manage their dogs and respond to dynamic situations involving civilians as they develop. These skills are critical to doing so and are developed during police academy and K9 officer training, yet it is also helpful if individuals who wish to pursue this occupation already have some of these abilities.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual salary for police and sheriff's patrol officers was $63,150 as of May 2019 (www.bls.gov). The BLS notes, however, that canine patrol officers receive additional compensation due to the specialized nature of the work. Per BLS reports, the employment of police officers and sheriff's patrol officers is expected to increase by 6% from 2019-2029; however, candidates may face stronger competition for the more limited number of canine officer jobs.

Salaries and employment numbers for police officers, including K9 officers, vary from state to state based on a number of variables. The following table lists the yearly salaries for officers in some of the states that have the most police officers:

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics