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Texas DPS outlines expansion of long-range canine tracking program after border deployments and rescues
Summary
Lieutenant Boyd Lamb told the Public Safety Commission the Department of Public Safety's tracking program has grown from six to 14 handlers, logged 478 deployments and more than 700 apprehensions, and performed search-and-rescue work in addition to border operations.
Lieutenant Boyd Lamb, lead of the Department of Public Safety's tracking program, told the Public Safety Commission on Dec. 1 that the unit has expanded from six handlers in 2022 to 14 and is being trained for longer, backcountry tracks to locate people who evade law enforcement and to support search-and-rescue operations.
The presentation outlined the program's origins and training: initial training began in April 2022, handlers were certified after a six-week pre-training and subsequent longer schools, and the agency later added a canine specialist and a Backcountry Tactical Tracking training course run with federal partners. "We graduated our first tracking handler July 8, 2022," Lamb said, describing an evolution from short patrol tracking to sustained visual and scent tracking over miles.
Lamb said the program recorded 478 deployments and more than 704…
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