Paducah Police Department's K-9 Teams
At this time, the Operations Division has three police K-9 teams: Officer AJ Parrish (with K-9, Don), Officer Will Hendrickson (with K-9 Joker), and Officer Benjamin Anthony (with K-9 Bary). Common breeds for Paducah Police dogs are Belgian Malinois, German Shepherds, or Dutch Shepherds.
Our K-9 teams are a vital resource to our community, as they do much more than just search for illegal drugs. They have the ability to track suspects in both urban and rural areas and search for items used in crime situations, such as a knife thrown into the tall grass. Each K-9 also has the ability to locate someone hidden inside of a building and can protect their handler if necessary.
Being assigned to a K-9 team is not an easy task. The officer must complete an extended training course with the dog and is responsible at all times for the dog's well-being and care. The dog lives with the handler, and they train together weekly in narcotics detection, tracking, and article searches when they are not working the street.
In 2022, the K-9 teams conducted more than 150 narcotics searches and suspect searches.
To invite one of our K-9 teams to visit your school or organization to show off their skills, call 270-444-8548.
