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Baldwin County Sheriff's Office outlines expanded K‑9 unit, reports hundreds of deployments and seizures
Summary
Sheriff's Office told commissioners the county K‑9 unit now includes eight dogs; since 2023 the unit recorded 467 deployments, 357 detections with 119 drug/currency seizures, and 110 patrol deployments that led to 101 captures.
The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office presented an update on its K‑9 unit during the May 6, 2025 Baldwin County Commission meeting, describing growth and recent operational statistics.
Sheriff Anthony Lowry and K‑9 unit leaders told the commission the unit now consists of eight dogs working in dual-purpose and single-purpose roles. Dual-purpose Belgian Malinois and similar breeds support the street‑crimes unit, narcotics work and SWAT. Single-purpose dogs include a bloodhound that specializes in non-criminal tracking (often for missing children) and a detection dog assigned to corrections to help prevent contraband from entering the jail.
The sheriff’s presentation included multi-year operational figures: since 2023 the unit deployed 467 times — 357 detection missions and 110 patrol/apprehension missions. Of the detections, the sheriff reported 119 seizures of illicit drugs and bulk currency; of the 110 patrol deployments, 101 resulted in the capture or surrender of a wanted felon and 11 deployments resulted in a bite incident. The sheriff emphasized that those low bite numbers reflect training standards.
Sheriff Lowry also noted the office now runs an in‑house K‑9 handler school, which he said saved the county training costs and produced locally certified handlers. The commission thanked handlers and said the K‑9 program’s interdiction and tracking work provides a force multiplier for patrol and investigative units.
