City of Davis

After an extended hiatus, The Davis Police Department reinstated it Canine program in August of 2003, primarily through the efforts of Officer Glenn Glasgow.

From August of 2003 through November of 2005, Officer Glasgow and K-9 Birko worked on the streets of Davis. Due to Birko’s age and a minor medical issue, Birko retired in November of 2005.

In March of 2005, the Police Department realized how valuable a K-9 unit was to the Department’s Officers and community. Through a generous grant from the Glide Foundation and community donations, the Police Department purchased a second dog, K-9 Atto, and assigned Officer Justin Raymond as his handler. In April of 2005, Officer Raymond and K-9 Atto began handling calls for service in the City and surrounding communities.

When it was announced that Birko would be retiring, the Department decided to maintain the two K-9 teams and purchased K-9 Lupo. In November of 2005, K-9 Lupo and Officer Ron Trn attended and completed a 160-hour handler course. Since then, the two have been on patrol in the City.

Atto and Lupo were born in Germany and the Czech Republic, respectively, and were trained in the sport of Schutzhund. The Schutzund sport incorporates a dog’s agility, play drive and the dog’s drive to protect its handler. Both K-9s were imported to the United States by Witmer-Tyson Imports (Menlo Park, Ca.), both in 2005. The dogs are trained in handler protection, suspect apprehension and searching for and detecting hidden suspects.

Both K-9 teams train extensively throughout the month. It is not uncommon for both K-9 teams to have a minimum of 16 hours of training in any given month.

K-9 Atto lives with Officer Raymond during his days off and can be found playing with Officer Raymond’s family.

K-9 Lupo enjoys coming to work and can often be heard barking in the back of the patrol car he rides in.  When he is not working, K-9 Lupo enjoys walks, running near water, and chasing his favorite toy ball.

 

For those of you that have not seen or heard Atto or Lupo, look out for the patrol car marked “K-9” and if you hear a dog barking one of them is on-duty. Although both dogs can be friendly, they are working, so please remember it is a crime to tease or agitate a police dog.