ARTICLE SEARCH/EVIDENCE RECOVERY

To be eligible to certify a K-9. You must be a full time paid law enforcement officer (Reserve officer), paid full time fire fighter, or in the military with assigned search and rescue duties, or state licensed private security company, or corrections officer, member of a Search and Rescue K9 Team, either local, state, federal or retired law enforcement or correctional officer in good standing with the state you worked for prior to retirement. Be a volunteer actively involved in Search and Rescue, Fire fighter or EMS team. The handler must be at least eighteen (18) years of age to certify with a K9.

This test is designed to determine the ability of the canine in searching an area for items that may be contaminated with human scent.

The area for the test will be acceptable to the certifying official and will be chosen based on the factors listed below:

Safety of the canine and person(s) in the area
Vegetation cover to conceal the articles.
The articles or evidence to be utilized in the search should be, but not limited to, the following:

Handgun, Shotgun shell, Car keys, Screwdriver, Wallet, Credit card.

The certifying official, for safety reasons, will examine all items used. The certifying official will also place the items in the search area.

Five (5) items will be placed in the search area with the canine team out of sight.

The canine must alert the handler to the items with an acceptable alert such as, but not limited to downing, sitting, or standing next to the items to be retrieved. The canine must alert the handler to three (3) of the five (5) items.

The certifying official may terminate this test due to the reasons:   Canine refuses to search, Canine stops searching, Canine gives two false alerts or too much time has elapsed.

FAILURE OF CERTIFICATION

There will be a 30 day waiting period to attempt to certify again unless circumstances at the time of the certification have been determined by the certifying official to warrant another attempt. A false alert, unable to control K-9, team clearly not working in a proficient manner or no find will result in a failed test. All rulings by the certifying official are final. Any use of electronic collars (E collars) will result in failure. Canine must be under verbal or physical control of handler at all times.

All certifications are valid for one year from testing date.