November 24, 2021

What Equipment Does a K9 Officer Use

K9 officers have similar jobs to other police officers, but they differ because of the large animals they take with them to every job. These large furry friends help officers uncover vital information and arrest wrongdoers. However, a K9 unit requires a lot more than just a specially trained dog. There’s a lot of equipment and gear you’ll need for the K9. In this article, we’ll go over the equipment a K9 officer uses for their partner.

Animal Transport

The biggest pieces of equipment that a K9 officer and dog team use is gear that helps with the transportation of the dog. A great example of this would include the giant cages you can find in the vehicle of any K9 officer. This helps keep everyone safe while the officer brings the dog from location to location.

Officer Protection

Although these K9 dogs receive extensive training before they join a team, there’s always a chance that the dog will need more training. In such instances, the training officer will wear equipment that’s comprised of a bite suit with full sleeves. This gear helps train police dogs without risking injuries on the people training them.

Harness and Leash

Even with all their training, police dogs still need leashes and harnesses that enable their partners to control them better. The harnesses can be very useful for the partners, as they can hold various first responders’ kits that may save lives when on the job.

Normal Police Equipment

All this specialty gear doesn’t include the regular items a dog might need or all the typical equipment already inside a police vehicle. Optimizing the space inside the vehicle is a top priority for K9 groups because of the additional equipment they carry. That’s why a lot of police departments use aftermarket modifications, like the slide-out truck bed storage, that help with organizing and maximizing the space in their vehicles.

This list should help you understand the equipment K9 units use for their job. Most of the equipment is for the protection of the dogs and people around them, making every piece of equipment extremely important for the job.

What Kind of Gear Is Inside a Police Car

Police handle and respond to dozens of emergency situations every day. Working with such a wide variety of high-pressure situations calls for a lot of equipment, all of which must fit inside their police car. There are policies on what kind of gear is inside a police car. The list isn’t all-inclusive and can vary a bit from state to state. However, this article covers a general list of what police need in their cars.

Emergency Response Kits

Every police car or truck carries a host of items and kits that help police respond and react to any situation. Some common kits in a police car include a first aid kit for any injuries, a WMD kit, and a Biohazard kit. These kits are vital for police as they respond to dangerous situations.

Other Tools

Police need more tools than what’s inside response kits—they also need things like blankets, bolt cutters, and firearms, all of which help them do their jobs efficiently. Blankets can help calm citizens in shock, for example, and firearms can be used to defend innocents or stop criminals.

Evidence Kits

Outside of resolving emergencies, outdoor police work relates to evidence collection. This means police need equipment to find and collect evidence without destroying it. The most common way that police accomplish this is using evidence kits, which are kept inside their cars.

Markers

Another piece of gear every police car holds is markers (not the kind you use on a whiteboard, though.) Police often need to section off areas to perform their duties, which means they use markers to indicate where people can and can’t go. Crime tape and flares are in every police car for this exact purpose.

Traffic Enforcement

Some police vehicles carry specialized equipment for specific duties. For example. There are trucks that carry scales, cones, gates, fencing, pylons and other equipment designed specifically for traffic enforcement.

Having enough room inside a police car for gear storage is important, especially now that you know what kind of gear it is. Because space is so valuable,a lot of police vehicles use aftermarket modifications—such as slide-out truck bed storage—to increase the room available to them. This helps police optimize all the space in the trunk and enables faster unloading and loading times for equipment. Police often use these modifications because they don’t have enough room in their cars otherwise.

(800) 752-0706

EXTENDOBED JOINS THE ADRIAN STEEL FAMILY | Click here to learn more.