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James City County Police introduce two new K9s, report early narcotics and tracking results
Summary
The James City County Police Department introduced K9 Maverick and K9 Bailey at the Board of Supervisors meeting; department officials described training, duties and early deployments that led to narcotics alerts and tracking assists.
The James City County Police Department introduced two new K9 officers Wednesday and described early field activity and training requirements.
Chief Jamieson presented K9 Bailey, a nearly 2-year-old female yellow Labrador, and K9 Maverick, a 2½-year-old male German shorthaired pointer. Both dogs trained at Ventosa Kennels in Scotland Neck, North Carolina; handlers reported six weeks of intensive training with 8–10 hour days during the program.
Chief Jamieson said both dogs specialize in human tracking and narcotics odor detection and are required to complete 16 hours of training each month to maintain certification. Since being assigned to patrol, the chief recounted, the dogs have assisted in three open-air sniff operations with Tri-Rivers Drug Task Force, been deployed on tracks tied to criminal offenses, and in roughly six weeks had recorded 27 narcotics scent deployments and two tracking deployments that produced 11 alerts leading to arrests. The alerts, he said, involved cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Handlers present at the meeting said the dogs live with their handlers when not working, receive family interaction in a controlled way and are protected from being treated as household pets so they remain focused on duties. Board members praised the program and asked about response times for tracking deployments; handlers said deployment time varies but teams aim to establish last-seen locations quickly and use personal articles when available to aid scent discrimination.
Why it matters: The county’s first K9 program is intended to support patrol work, missing-person searches and drug enforcement. The department said the two dogs have already assisted in several operations and arrests.
What’s next: The department will continue training and certification maintenance and invited board members to see demonstrations and take photos with the dogs for community outreach.
