The West Valley City Police Department has three K-9 teams. The teams are assigned to the Graveyard Watch in the Patrol Division but are on call and available to respond at any time. With the assistance of their handlers, the K-9s have been instrumental in apprehending many criminals that otherwise may have escaped capture or detection. The K-9s are trained to track suspects, find burglars or intruders, detect illegal drugs, assist in crowd control, and locate lost or missing persons.
All our K-9s are German Shepherds. They have been well trained and are certified patrol dogs through the Utah Police Office Standards & Training Academy. They maintain regular and rigorous training schedules with their handlers.

A police officer applying to be a K-9 handler is making a huge commitment in time and resources to become a handler. The K-9 assignment involves a significant amount of training and preparation time most other law enforcement assignments don't involve. The K-9 handler doesn't just work his full shift with his dog, but he takes the dog home with him also. All the K-9s live with their handlers and families, and are considered the family pet. Many handlers arrange to keep their dogs as "family members" after the dogs are no longer are able to work the street.

The WVCPD K-9 Teams occasionally put on K-9 demonstrations for the public. If you are interested in having a demonstration for your community or youth group (because of time constraints we can only entertain groups with fifteen or more), please call the Patrol Division Desk at (801) 963-3256.