Canine Unit

In the early 1960’s the City of Richmond was an industrious area with a number of large commercial buildings. The Canine Unit was formed because the canines could search the large buildings quickly with only the assistance of the handler and another officer. Before the Canine Unit was formed, several officers would take long periods of time searching these buildings for potential suspects, and not be available for other calls. The Canine Unit today continues to provide this function.

Sergeant M. Birch (retired) became the coordinator of the Canine Unit in the early 1970’s and molded the unit into one of the most highly respected Canine Teams in the country. Sergeant Birch continued as the coordinator until his retirement in 2004. The Canine Unit will always be in gratitude for Sergeant Birch’s dedicated and tireless service to the unit.

Deputy Chief L. Ritter, a former handler, became the Commander of the Richmond Police Department Canine Unit in 1994. Other notable former handlers are Lieutenant S. Pickett (retired), Chief E. Duncan (retired), Chief C. Bennett (retired), Captain R. Howard (retired), Sergeant M. Birch (retired), Sergeant D. Browne (retired), Sergeant E. Sousa (retired), Officer M. Peixoto (retired), and Officer A. Mandell (retired).  Some additional handlers who had lengthy service in the unit were Officer G. Gibson (retired), Officer R. Smith (retired), Officer J. Hill (retired) and Officer W. Cantrell (retired).  Both Officer Gibson and Officer Smith were in the unit over eight years.  Officer Hill and Canine Nero were a team for more than eleven years as well as Officer Cantrell and Canine Arrow.

The present Richmond Police Department Canine Unit consists of five Canine Teams (Handler and Canine), one supervisor (coordinator) and one commander. Presently there are five Belgian Malinois in the unit.  All the canines used by the Richmond Police Department are cross-trained in narcotics or firearms detection.

The Belgian Malinois breed has been used by the Richmond Police Department since 1988 when Officer D. Hembree was assigned Canine Lando as his partner. Officer D. Hembree has had the longest career in the unit.  Officer Hembree was partnered with his third Belgian Malinois, Canine Maverick until his retirement in 2010.  

The Belgian Malinois breed and Dutch Shepherd breed has worked well with the Richmond Police Department Canine Unit. Both breeds have a long career span; they are very athletic, even-tempered and have a high play drive.

The primary function of the Canine Unit is to help the in searching for and tracking of felony suspects who have fled the scene of a crime, searching for evidence, narcotics/firearms detection, and on occasion, to conduct searches for lost children and/or elderly people.