About the Unit
Patrol and Special Team operations have been supplemented by our K-9 Unit that has a proud history over its 20 years of existence. The Department is authorized two K-9 officers, who have dogs trained for apprehension, article searches, and drug detection. The dogs increase officer and public safety and make searching for items and contraband more effective.
The Missoula Police Department uses police dogs on a variety of calls. Some of their recent successes include locating wanted persons, locating drugs and other articles needed in ongoing investigations
The Department has two active dogs. Pictured above is Officer Nathan Champa with Zip. Officer Todd Horton, pictured below, is Jip's handler
Training
K-9 officers attend an intensive initial training with their dog. Once in service, the officers and their dogs train every week. Their ongoing training include all of their initial training topics as well as new skills such as working with special teams. Many MPD officers help in the training by being quarry and local businesses volunteer to allow the dog training in their facilities.
If you have an available facility and would like to assist our K-9 program with it, we would love to discuss it with you. For more information or questions, contact the K-9 Unit Sergeant James Caton.