On Patrol With Kazan, Murrieta Police K9

Kazan (pronounced Kay-Zon), a Dutch Malinois shepherd dog, is an integral part of the effectiveness of the Murrieta Police Department.

The Department may employ approximately 85 sworn officers, but its five K9s could almost be considered additional employees.

"Each patrol K9 unit saves anywhere from 800 to 1,000 man hours each year," said Murrieta police Cpl. Jay Elliott, whose partner is Kazan. “The dog itself is a force multiplier."

According to Elliott, the department's dogs can be used in instances where it may not initially be safe for officers to go on scene. Situations Murrieta patrol units can expect to be faced with during a shift are unpredictable, so being alert, armoured and prepared is key.

Before Murrieta police start a 12-hour shift, they arrive at the station to get into their gear.

Once in their gear, “they are issued their weapons by their supervisor,” Elliott said. “Which would consist of a Remington 870 shot gun and a Colt AR-15 patrol rifle.

“They also have the opportunity to take a less lethal weapon such as a bean-bag shot gun.”

A few officers are also issued a breathalyzer device, according the corporal.

“Every car already has a pepper-ball gun,” the corporal said.

After being issued their equipment, they load their patrol car and check the maintenance of the vehicle to ensure everything is in working order.

Then it’s off to briefing.

Briefings typically consist of bulletins about crimes in the city, vacation checks, information about suspects to be on the look out for, requests for extra patrol, and other department notices, according to Elliott.

“About once a week, we’ll also have training in our briefing,” Elliott said. “One of the officers will provide everybody else with some sort of training.”

Training may consist of: department policy, criminal law, new ways criminals hide contraband and other subjects, according to Elliott. 

Once briefing concludes the officers are on patrol.

“If you're a night-time officer you're going to be spending a lot of time in the shopping centers and the communities doing extra patrol and business checks,” Elliott said. 

While en route to a call officers have many things to consider: the fastest way to get to the scene, what they may encounter and how they are going to approach the situation, according to Elliott.

When officers are on scene they have many things to take into consideration, he said.

“Are there weapons involved? Suspect information and what they were traveling in, if there's any victims, if somebody is injured—so there's a lot to consider,” Elliott said.

Before sending the K9 to search for suspects, the handler must give commands to any potential suspects inside a building.

“I have to announce who I am, what I want the person inside to do and the consequences that will happen if they don’t surrender,” Elliott said.

According to Elliott, the K9 officer would announce to the suspect: "This is Murrieta Police department. Whoever is inside needs to come out now. Otherwise, the dog will be used to find you, and the dog will bite you."

Murrieta officers always have something to do. During down times they are looking for any potential crimes, conducting follow-ups and investigating previous calls, performing vacation checks (on residences), checking problem areas and other policing, according to Elliott. 

Murrieta PD consists of four patrol K9s and one Bloodhound, according to Elliott. 

The Bloodhound is for human tracking only; the other four patrol K9s are used for purposes such as searching for human scent, articles a suspect has ditched and other tracking and searching purposes, according to Elliott

“We’ll go to certain calls that may require a dog, like if there was a forced entry,” Elliott said. “Rather then put the officers in harm's way, we’ll have the dog check the area."

A dog's sense of smell is 1,000 times better than a human and their hearing is 15 times better, he said.

“The K9's main job is a locating tool and its second use is a use of force—if it needed to be—which is a non-lethal use of force,” Elliott said. “A K9 is not considered a deadly weapon.”

At the end of each shift the K9s go home with their handler and are on call.

Nearing the end of an officer’s 12-hour shift is when report writing typically takes place, as well as booking of evidence and other duties that need to be completed before they head home, according to Elliott. 

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