The Cumberland Police Department had 4 canine teams in 2022 consisting of one (1) CDS detection Golden Retriever, one (1) CDS detection Yellow Labrador Retriever, and two (2) CDS detection, tracking, and article search German Shepherds. The two German Shepherd teams were new in 2022. Sadly, one of the new German Shepherd canines suffered from a medical emergency and passed away. The department is currently looking to add another canine during 2023.
The team is under the direction of Lieutenant Korey Rounds, with the daily operations of the unit controlled by the group supervisor Corporal Brett Leedy. Members assigned to the unit included: Sgt. Brett Leedy, Sgt. D.J. Jenkins, PFC. Trevor Baluch, and PFC. Alex Brooks.
All canine teams have received extensive training and are currently certified for canine police operations in their specialty field through the National Association of Professional Canine Handlers. To maintain proficiency, all canine teams train on average an additional 16 hours each month.
During 2022, the Canine Unit conducted 224 drug scans which resulted in 51 drug arrests. The canine team’s proficiency rating was over 99%. The remaining 1% can be attributed to a canine alerting on a vehicle and no drugs being found. Reasons this may occur could be due to a passenger having recently smoked/used drugs, but recently exited the vehicle, or drugs being in the car but were removed prior to police contact, and the occupants denied possession. In these instances, the canine still detects the odor and alerts on the vehicle.