Canine Unit

The Bakersfield Police Department K-9 Unit was established in 1988 with the first teams being placed into service in January 1989. The original team consisted of four German shepherd police dogs which were imported from Europe. The unit has since expanded in size to its current compliment of 13 cross-trained patrol dogs (detection and apprehension). Ten of these canines detect the odor of drugs and three detect the odor of explosive material. The breeds which make up the current K-9 teams of the Bakersfield Police Department are either German Shepherds or Belgian Malinois.

Since 1989 the unit has been responsible for thousands of arrests, from burglary to homicide suspects.