For 20 years of my 30-year law enforcement career, I had the greatest job in the entire department: I was a K-9 handler. Whenever something goes bad in the city or the surrounding areas, who do they call? Not the Ghostbusters, but the K-9 unit.
As I travel around the country and people learn I was a K-9 handler for so long, one of the questions I get asked about is mandatory rotation. This inquiry normally comes from handlers who want to stay in the K-9 unit, but they’re close to their first dog’s retirement. “What should I do?” they ask.
Each department is different, but some specialized units have a mandatory rotation after a certain number of years. Some K-9 units have what is called a “one-and-done” mandatory rotation. What does this mean? It means the handler will be in the K-9 unit for as long as he has that dog. Once the dog is no longer able to perform the duties expected of him, the dog will be retired and the handler will rotate out of the unit. There are a few exceptions: For example, if the dog is injured or dies prematurely. But in most cases once the dog is retired, so is the handler.
How Long?
When I got into canines in the mid-1980s, you rarely saw a dog in a basic K-9 academy that wasn’t at least 3 years old. However, since the demand of police dogs has increased substantially throughout the past 10–12 years, I’m seeing dogs placed on the street as early as 14 months old. In my opinion, this is too young. Basically, picture a junior-high or high-school student working the streets of your city. Is this really what you want?
Regardless, in today’s environment you may start your K-9 career with a 14-month to 2-year-old dog. Barring any major injuries to the dog, most German Shepherds will work the street until they’re 8–9 years old. If you’re working with a Malinois, they can work on the street until they are 11–12 years old.
Do the math. If you start your K-9 career with a 14-month to 2-year-old dog and you stay until that dog retires you will have a lengthy canine career. That would give most handlers a 6–9-year career as a dog handler. And for most K-9 handlers, that’s enough.
Unless they’ve done the research and really know what it takes to do to be a successful K-9 handler, most handlers will gladly get out of the K-9 unit after their dog retires. Or they’ll leave several years prior to the dog retiring because it’s too much work for them.
I understand the concept behind a mandatory rotation. It allows more department personnel to get the experience, training and background in that specialized units. It creates a more well-rounded officer. But why do some administrators think they know what’s best for the careers of your officers or the community you serve every day?
The Exception
As in most businesses, there are many different types of people and personalities that make up a police department and keep it running smoothly and efficiently. Some people like writing tickets. Others enjoy taking photos and fingerprints at crime scenes. Still some love to work on computers and analyze crime statistics. In my experience, someone who loves what they do does a better job at it. How many of these special assignments have mandatory rotations?
In many departments, once you’re in the detective bureau, you can stay there for the rest of your career. If you’re assigned to the homicide desk, they don’t make you rotate out of the bureau or work a different desk after a certain number of years just to give others the opportunity to become “well-rounded.” The department wants to keep you there because of the training and expertise you’ve developed.
Departments must keep in mind that some people have little desire to promote because they like what they do and are good at their job. Yes, some people work specialized assignments just to get their ticket punched, learn the minimum amount about that assignment to be dangerous and move on so they can climb the ladder as fast as they can. But there are many officers who want to be masters of their chosen profession, not jacks of all trades and masters of none.
Thankfully, a lot of these officers have the desire to go to the next level in their chosen field and become masters of the trade. By staying in that position and gaining knowledge and experience, they can teach others what they have learned and make their job safer. But if the department takes them out of a specialized unit, they won’t have the chance to gain this expertise and teach others.
Like anything else, there are pros and cons to both arguments.
For the Handlers
One of the biggest considerations a supervisor will have in deciding whether to leave K-9 handlers in the unit for a second rotation lies mainly with the handlers themselves. If you have a handler who’s grown stagnant, has a bad attitude and/or is always taking off work, I’d agree with getting the handler out of the unit. You know the type. They’ve been a handler for however many years, but they’re still a one-year handler.
For the handlers who are reading this article, don’t give your department any other option but to want you in the K-9 unit. Show the supervisors you’re a leader and that you hold yourself to a higher standard. Raise the bar for other handlers who come into the K-9 unit.
Don’t just wait for the big call. Go out every day and write tickets, take reports for other officers and be proactive in your duties as a police officer. Show them you’re an outstanding police officer who just happens to have a dog in your back seat. Ensure your continued growth, and develop your expertise as a dog handler. Finally, share your knowledge and skills with others in the unit as well as surrounding departments.
Considerations for Rotation
Now, if your department has a small, one- to two-person K-9 unit, I might understand the reasoning for wanting to have a built-in rotation. But once again, look at the handler and see what kind of job they’re doing. If you’re always rotating new personnel into the K-9 unit, you won’t have anyone with real-life expertise to bring the new handlers along and help them with any issues that will occur. Trust me, if you are working with dogs, problems will occur.
If you decide to have mandatory rotation in the K-9 unit, you might consider having one position that’s permanent. But this permanent position is only for the handler who’s shown leadership, commitment and dedication to the K-9 unit and truly deserves this position.
Remember: The K-9 unit probably has the highest level of potential civil litigation within the department. Look around your department. You know the officers who want to be handlers. Do you really want some of these people in the unit? If you want rotation and get it, you might suddenly have bigger problems than you once realized.
In today’s economy, department budgets affect everything. It varies from vendor to vendor, but on average a single-purpose patrol dog can cost around $7,000–10,000. In most cases this doesn’t even cover the 6–12-week basic K-9 school the handler attends, as well as whatever overtime is needed to cover that shift. If you want your dog cross-trained in detection work, narcotics or bombs, that could be another three to six weeks of training, in addition to the costs of the class and overtime.
Between the dog, the cost of the training, officer pay, per diem and overtime you can see the departments are putting out a lot of money for the dog and handler. This is one reason why most departments don’t have a recommended yearly rotation but it’s why most departments have a mandatory three-to-four year commitment in the K-9 unit.
Conclusion
Hopefully, I’ve given you a few things to think about. Mandatory rotations are intended to improve the overall experience of your officers, but they may also have consequences that aren’t immediately apparent. At the least, special units often benefit from a senior officer who provides steady leadership and brings extensive, specialized experience. Some officers will be so passionate about the special unit that to remove them would be a disservice to the officer, the department and the community you serve. Bottom line: If you don’t want to be the one-and-done handler, be the one who sets the higher standard.
