Canine Unit
The City of Minneapolis Canine Unit serves Minneapolis and the surrounding community. We use specially trained canines and handlers to make police work safer and more efficient.
Our canine teams are:
- Trained patrol canines.
- Are narcotic detector certified.
- Explosive detector certified.
- Have qualified tracking bloodhounds:
- One ATF certified single-purpose explosive detector canine
- One certified single-purpose narcotic detector canine.
Minneapolis Police Canine Foundation
- The foundation is a non-profit organization that helps support buying canines and equipment.
- It helps bring financial help to the unit and to provide help educating the community about police canine work.
Links
K-9 Photo Gallery
K-9 Training Photos
Canine Unit History
The City of Minneapolis started testing using canines before 1970. Police Chief Gordon Johnson sent two officers, Welton Kopp and Mike Fisher, to Washington, D.C. where they trained with two German shepherd dogs. Both officers returned with their dogs and convinced the city leadership to invest in a canine program. Welton and Mike recruited 8 handlers for the first class and found dogs for the new venture. Dogs were recruited from the private sector, mainly from German shepherd dog breeders. The 1970 class had 8 teams.
The first class trained at the then closed U.S. Navy base in south Minneapolis. . Officers trained in all phases of police dog use using the standards set by the United States Police Canine Association. The first class trained for 13 weeks.
All graduated in 1971. The teams then served all precincts across the city through the Tactical Services Division and the Special Operations Division. The Canine Unit organization and tasks assigned increased over the years.
The original 8 officers chosen for the canine unit: Officers William Lundquist, K9 Sergeant (his name was changed since the breeders had named him Hippie Hit Hat); Mark Jacobson, K9 Rommel; Phil Bishman, K9 Lance; Dave Neibur, K9 Thor; Richard Stahura, K9 Trooper; Dick Morrill, K9 Rex; Roger Fancher, K9 Clancy; and Charles Adams, K9 Lance.
Minneapolis opened its canine training grounds to neighboring police departments and offered to train canine teams. St. Paul Police Department sent several officers to Minneapolis to be trained. After they established a Canine Unit in their department, they too built a kennel and training facility. This facility also serves as a training location for outside communities. Numerous departments from out of state train and receive recognition at yearly competitions.
Contact us
Contact: [email protected]
Phone: 612-673-5934
Last updated Sep 23, 2020
