Some police dogs now have cameras, too

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By CARRIE ANTLFINGER
Associated Press

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Police dogs have always helped their human partners using their eyes and nose. Some of these dogs are now getting their own backup — cameras that transmit live video.

The devices are generally attached to dogs’ backs using vests and transmit video to handlers watching from a screen, one that might be worn on their wrists or around their necks. The system is meant to help officers better assess what they are up against before going into a situation.

“If we have a really close encounter with armed people it doesn’t work out well for anyone,” said Shawn Gore, Portland, Oregon, police K-9 officer. “If we can gain distance it gives us lots of options to negotiate and de-escalate.”

David Ferland, executive director of the United States Police Canine Association, a training program for police dogs, said departments generally use the cameras when dogs go out to look for suspects, missing people or explosives.

Ferland doesn’t have statistics but he suspects that fewer than 5 percent of agencies have the cameras because they are so expensive. Most cost between $6,000 and $20,000, he said.

But some K-9 academies are already training dogs with vests and cameras so they get used to them, Ferland said.

K-9 cameras started becoming more common about a decade ago after departments saw their success in helping dogs in the military, he said.

Law enforcement agencies generally pay for the cameras using donations or forfeitures or drug-seizure money, which is how Portland is paying for its cameras. That police agency has had 10 cameras for its K-9s since about 2012 and is in the midst of getting newer cameras, which will cost about $20,000 each.

Tactical Electronics started making K-9 cameras in 2006 and has sold between 5,000 and 6,000 to law enforcement and military officials throughout the world, said Addie Ventris, the company’s marketing director.

In Wisconsin, the Muskego Police Department recently bought its first camera for its dog, Sirius, said K-9 Officer Shawn Diedrich.

“Being able to get a layout of an area — whether it’s out in the woods or in a house or it’s in a business, the camera will start to give us that layout so when officers have to go into that environment they can do it more safely,” Diedrich said.