K-9 Unit
Since 2011, the police department has had dual purpose K-9 teams. K-9 “Aries” has been working with Sergeant Kevin Bowen since 2019. K-9 “Aries” started his career with Officer Talley in 2016.
The police department welcomed a new patrol K-9 to the team this year. K-9 “Max” joined the department in late 2022. K-9 “Max” and his handler Officer Charles Lampron attended the basic K-9 training school in November of 2022 and will begin on patrol in 2023.
The K-9's primary functions working patrol are to alert their handlers to the odor of narcotics and perform apprehensions. Most of the time, the mere presence of one of our K-9's is enough to gain compliance or motivate the suspect to surrender. They also search buildings once we have received a report of a burglary or other situation where a K-9 is needed. Our K-9's can search an entire building much faster and safer than a team of officers.
When our K-9s are not finding drugs or apprehending criminals, they often show up at community events. Our K-9 teams demonstrate their skills to the community at public events. They also go to schools and show off their skills to students in Red Bluff. Our K-9 handlers have noticed the K-9s significantly help connect to the community of Red Bluff.
Our K-9s are funded by donations only. The donations we are grateful to receive lead us to increase our K-9 unit to two teams. Donations cover the cost of training, dog food, K-9 equipment (collars, leashes, harnesses etc.), veterinary expense and of course purchasing the dogs.