Franklin County teams with Battell to train K9s to serve the public
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Law enforcement K9 dogs all play a special role in their agency.
NBC4 was able to get a behind-the-scenes look at how they train to sniff out explosive devices. This training is part of the Regional Explosive Detection Dog Initiative or REDDI put on by Battelle and The Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate.
They hosted the program at Historic Crew Stadium to make these scenarios as real as possible. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Columbus Fire Division and other agencies across Central Ohio participated.
We were able to follow along with Sgt. Ray DeBolt and K9 Vero. They both work with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.
DeBolt said this training is very important to both of them.
“So we always want to try to challenge ourselves, right? So we are always trying to find new and inventive ways to challenge the dogs, challenge ourselves as operators," DeBolt said.
The real-life training exercises are things the K9s will use daily. They will also be used while working at large events like an Ohio State football game or a Columbus Crew match. Debolt said that’s why there are distractions.
“There's so much stuff in the world today, right? There's you know, you've got candy and my dog likes candy. You got all kinds of stuff that's out there. It's strong-smelling candles, whatever it is. I think they were using Tide pods, that kind of stuff. You've got to make sure that they're not hitting on those things,” DeBolt said.
The dogs also practiced identifying explosives on cars in a motorcade situation. Debolt said if a dignitary like the president or vice president comes to town, these K9s will be in charge of inspecting the cars.
The dogs are searching for odors -- anything from military explosives to precursors that could be used to create an energy device.
Battelle engineer Kevin Good said Battelle has a team that is specifically dedicated to working with the working dog community.
“Each year we try to evolve the study, to evolve the initiative to further challenge our canine teams, to better prepare them for the intelligent adversary that we are asking them to intercept,” Good said.
Good said Battelle is excited to have this training in its backyard.
DeBolt said this training, which happens over three days, is also about teamwork.
“The dog is very spot on. A lot of our dogs are really spot on and it's good. And again, with the challenging part of it, it just lets us have more confidence in the dog and the dog has more confidence in his job,” DeBolt said.
Battelle has done dozens of REDDI training like this one nationwide.