The K-9 Team is used by the Police Department in a variety of ways while deployed on shift.

One of the most common uses of the K-9 Team is for narcotic detection. The canine, Loki, a Belgian Malinois/Shephard mix, is also trained in all phases of criminal apprehension, including building searches, tracking, area searches and aggression control. Other areas of training include article searches and agility.

Loki has plenty of equipment in his patrol car to keep him cool. His kennel — which takes up half of the back seat of the Ford Explorer — is equipped with a Hot-N-Pop system. This means when the temperature in the vehicle reaches 90 degrees (measured with two thermostats), an alarm sounds triggering the horn of the vehicle, the back windows roll down, a fan begins blowing on Niko, and his handler, Ofc. Lance Wipf, is notified to come check on him. 

“By no means when that goes off, does it mean he’s in any type of distress at all,” Wipf said. “That’s why it’s set at 90 degrees rather than 95 so that way, it goes off before it gets to where he would be affected.”

Another way Loki is kept cool is an apparatus connected to the car’s air conditioning unit. This blows the A/C directly into Niko’s kennel at all times. 

The Explorer also has tinted windows to reduce sunlight into the vehicle. 

When he’s not in the vehicle, Loki frequently enjoys breaks to play ball and has a kennel inside the Spring Hill Police Department and at large run at home.