Canine (K9) Unit The mission of the K9 Unit is to provide specialized canine support to the Operations Branch and Investigations Branch. The goal of the Patrol Dog teams are to provide a resource to the officer and investigator on the street by utilizing the keen sense of smell and hearing of the canine whose task is to assist in the apprehension of suspects, the searching of buildings, finding articles of evidence and protection of police officers and members of the community. The K9 Unit has two overlapping details of handler/canine teams that provide patrol support coverage 24/7. In addition, the Unit provides hander/ canine teams to the US Marshals Fugitive Apprehension Task Force on an overtime basis. The K9 Unit also has handler/canine teams trained to deploy with SERT on tactical apprehension missions.