Bonneville Sheriff’s office shows off their K-9 units
BONNEVILLE COUNTY, Idaho (KIFI)- County Fair season is finally here, and counties all over the region are starting to prepare. In Bonneville County, the fair started on Thursday, August 3rd.
Saturday, August 5th had a full docket of events on the schedule, starting with a 5K early Saturday morning.
After lunch time people gathered at the Melaleuca Event Center to witness a demonstration from the Sheriff's Office on what K-9 units are capable of.
During the presentation, people gathered that although K-9s have been a regular part of the police force since the 12th century they wouldn't be a common part of American Police work until the 1970s.
They also learned that in Bonneville County the dogs they are used primarily for narcotic detection and the apprehension of suspects.
"Most of the calls that we deploy are canines on our narcotics searches. Generally speaking, it would be on traffic stops where there is some suspicion that there are illegal narcotics inside the vehicle or in the possession of the person that was stopped. And we'll deploy our dogs to do what we call a free air sniff to smell the air around the outside of that vehicle to see if there is a narcotic odor around the outside of the vehicle," said Bonneville County Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Rix.
Rix added that when they are used to apprehend suspects it's so they can protect the officers which is a good thing but sadly puts the dogs at risk. "Which we don't love. But we do like that they offer a degree of protection to the people so that we don't have to be in as dangerous of situations for apprehending a suspect."
People who attended the event say they enjoyed watching the different demonstrations but the bite suit sticks out in particular.
"It was really funny to see how I met Officer Judy reacted to it and how Ragnar (the k-9) like, reacted to it," said Ashtyn Davis.
Ashtyn added that it was also fun to see how Officer Judy and his dog partner named Spider demonstrated how narcotics are detected. "
The dogs and the Handlers enjoyed the demonstration as it shows off how they can help the community.
