Meet Charlie: Colonie PD’s first explosives detection canine
COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — From narcotics to explosive detection, police dogs serve many roles in keeping communities safe. Charlie, the Colonie Police Department’s first explosives detection K-9, has recently gotten back from a training at the State Preparedness Center in Oriskany.
K-9 Charlie is a 2-year-old German Shepherd-Belgian Malinois mix.
“Charlie specifically is a dual-purpose certified K-9. He’s trained in patrol work in explosives detection,” said his partner, officer Billy Purtell.
During trainings, handlers work through realistic scenarios, such as mass gathering events.
“It can be as simple as putting an explosive odor out and imprinting them on that odor and teaching him that that’s what he’s supposed to find,” said Purtell.
“This year specifically, they did a skill in on mass gathering events with really the unprecedented amount of events that are taking place in the state of New York this year. It’s really helpful for us as explosives detection canine handlers to get some exposure to stuff like that, in the event that we need to respond to any type of incident over the course of the summer.” Purtell explained.
While Charlie’s focus is on explosives, other K-9s have different roles. K-9 Reese, a 2-year-old lab, handles narcotics and helps to build community trust.
“Police dogs do come in lab form, and they’re very friendly and it makes people feel more comfortable coming up to talk to us,” said Reese’s partner, officer Kay Rinaldi. “Having the dog there really opens up that door to the community for us to engage with them and for them to feel comfortable engaging with us.”
On the other end, K-9 Eddie, after nine years on the job, is just weeks away from retirement. His partner is Sergeant Michael Clough, who is also the head of Colonie PD’s K-9 Unit. Clough explained what it takes to be a police dog.
“It’s all about their drive. So German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois and Labrador retrievers. They all are bred to work, and they want a job to do. That’s why when you see people that have German Shepherds or Labs as pets and they’re like, ‘Oh, they’re destroying my house.’ Yes, of course they are, because they’re working dogs and they want jobs.”