Human Remains - NOCSAR

K9 CADAVER SEARCH. CERTIFICATION

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.

TYPE OF CADAVER AIDS TO BE USED FOR CERTIFICATION

ONLY Human remains will he used as aids. NO PSEUDO aids will be used to certify any team. Urine cannot be used as a fluid for certification. Only bone, fluid and body tissue shall allowed.

FAILURES

At least one hide of animal remains will be placed in one of the search areas. A Final Indication (alert called by handler) on[MF1] animal remains results in a failed certification. Handler CAN NOT walk up to source and confirm type of bone (human or animal) before calling alert. Canine is working odor not handler!!

Consumption of any aid will result in a failure.

The second alert on a non-hide location or a second missed hide results in a failure.

The canine marking / urinating on hide (AID) will result in failure.

The handler should make effort to not let the canine urinate on the crime scene.

HIEGHT AND DEPTH OF AIDS

Amount and size of the aid will dictate the depth of the hide. The_.smaller amounts he shallower the hide will be. Aids will be hidden at various heights and depths to be determined by the certifying official, but not lower than 6 feet and not higher than 15 feet.

TIME ISSUES

There must be at least a 30 minute set time for each aid.

Certifying official will dictate how long the aid will need to sit on the given environment.

The team will be allowed the necessary time required to do a systemic search of the area based on the size of the search area presented.

The handler may request a rest break if the canine tires or shows signs of heat exhaustion.

The time limit at each search area will be at the discretion of the certifying official.

The canine must show competence and continued interest in working and in locating the cadaver aid or evaluator can stop certification.

ALERTS

Each handler is responsible for notifying the certifying official the type of alert (passive or aggressive) to expect. Handler must announce each canine alert to the certifying official either by lifting hand or stating to official.

SEARCH AREA

The team may certify in land,water, or both if a large enough water source is available.

Land search will consist of at least three of the fo11owing:

1 aid hidden in rubble, concrete, lumber, building material. etc.

1 aid hidden on the surface concealed with leaves, brush, etc.

1 aid buried with additional diggings added to the area to disguise the actual hide location.

1 aid concealed above the ground, not less than 6 feet and not more than 15 feet.

1 aid hidden at the discretion of the certifying official in a building with more than one room.

1 area with an aid hidden will be no less than a 50 yard by 50 yard area with a maximum of 50 yards by 100 yards. Final determination of appropriate sized area will be left to the certifying official and will contain animal bone.

The canine team must alert on at least two different types of aids (fluid, tissue, bone) in three different environments to pass certification. These areas are at the discretion of the evaluator.

LAND CADAVER ENVIRONMENTS SEARCH AREAS

VEHICLE SEARCHES

At least three vehicles spaced several feet apart, spacing will be determined by the certifying official.

1 aid consisting of blood_; fluid_; or tissue in or on one of the vehicles. An alert on a vehicle without an aid present will constitute failure.

BUILDING SEARCHES

A building, dwelling, or residence with several rooms to search.

Some of the rooms should have distracters that will be determined by the certifying official.

1 aid consisting of blood, fluid or tissue should be hidden.

An alert on an area without the aid present will constitute a failure.

SCATTERED OR DISARTICULATED BONE

The scattering of human bones will be set in a determined sized area based on the environment but no smaller than the described area above. This area shall contain animal bone.

CERTIFICATION IS VALID FOR ONE YEAR FROM DATE OF ISSURANCE.

WATER SEARCH

All occupants of the boat shall wear Coast Guard Approved PFD at ALL times while testing, riding on the dock / pier.

The area of water for testing will be defined by the evaluator and clearly described to the canine team. At least three (3) hides will be submerged at different depths based on environment of testing and search will be done by boat. Canine must alert on at least two (2) different hides in two (2) different depths to pass.

DEPTH OF AIDS / BOAT ASSESSMENT

Amount and size of the aid will no larger than 1-2 pounds and if bone is used, it will be no smaller than 7-10 inches. Hides will be hidden at various depths to be determined by the certifying official, but not shallower than 12 inches of water and no deeper than 15 feet. The search area in a boat, in calm waters of a lake or pond will be no larger than 100 yards total, but may be broken down into smaller search areas based on size of lake / pond.