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Photos: NY police, K-9s train for explosive detection at first-ever ‘Canine Week’

Fifty K-9 explosive detection teams participated at a training hosted by the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services on Thursday

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Law enforcement officers preparing a police canine to ride a helicopter for a training exercise that will familiarize canines with the experience of being airborne on June 13, 2019 [JOLENE CLEAVER / OBSERVER-DISPATCH]

Jolene Cleaver
Observer-Dispatch, Utica, N.Y.

ORISKANY, NY — For police officers with canine partners like Utica police Patrolman Sean Bubnis and 4-year-old partner Wolf, there is an ongoing cycle of continuous training so they can be prepared for any incident that arises.

And having that level of training available in the Mohawk Valley is valuable, said Bubnis.

Bubnis and Wolf were among 50 other police canine explosion detection teams participating this week in the first ever “Canine Week” at the State Preparedness Training Center in Oriskany, a training hosted by the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

The teams are engaging in “scenario-based training exercises geared toward the detection of explosives,” organizers said.

Among simulated trainings, canine teams are operating out of a helicopter during an emergency response, detecting explosives in a maritime environment using the state’s Swift Water Rescue site and practicing executing a high-risk warrant situation that might involve explosives, said Meghan Dudley, an intelligence analyst for the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

Dudley also said canine teams have been busy this week utilizing the swift water rescue facility in order to train in a maritime setting.

“It’s a different environment. ...Most have not had an opportunity to train in water,” Dudley said, further noting that since floods are now a common occurrence in New York the water-based training is relevant as, “crime doesn’t stop when flooding occurs.”

In a detail of the week’s trainings, Bubnis added that the new environments and tasks police officers can expose their canine partners to at the training center is beneficial and at a higher level than typical trainings.

Not only do the canines learn to work efficiently in the presence of other police dogs, but they, “work through all these extreme scenarios and perform at a high level.”

This week, not only have police agencies from New York attended the canine focused training, but out of state agencies from Connecticut and Georgia have begun to travel to the area for training.

“It’s exciting to have this kind of world class training here in Oriskany,” Dudley said.

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A police canine engages in a simulated warrant search in which explosives would be present. [JOLENE CLEAVER / OBSERVER-DISPATCH]

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Law enforcement officers escort a police canine to a helicopter for a training exercise that will familiarize canines with the experience of being airborne on June 13, 2019 at the State Preparedness Training Center in Oriskany. [JOLENE CLEAVER / OBSERVER-DISPATCH]

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©2019 Observer-Dispatch, Utica, N.Y.

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