The University of Minnesota Police Department has hired a Labrador retriever to sniff out potential bombs before events on campus, track lost items and find missing people.
The dog, Gator, completed canine training May 25 with his handler, officer Allan Cunningham, the agency said.
The 12-week training process included mock car searches, tracking people and objects by smell and going over basics like sitting on command.
The university police department is among other local and national departments that are moving away from apprehension dogs and toward more friendly bomb-sniffing dogs. The shift is for both community relations and security reasons, Cunningham said.
The university police department has 15 apprehension dogs, though eight are also trained to detect explosives. The department began adding bomb dogs about five years ago, Cunningham said.
Department Chief Matthew Clark said single-purpose bomb dogs are in higher demand. "Especially with the Super Bowl coming, we know that having a single-purpose explosive dog is important," he said.
MINNESOTA DAILY
