Keith Bell, program coordinator of criminal justice and criminology at West Liberty University, informed students via email about Wheeling Police Department bringing members of their K-9 units to campus for demonstrations. The demonstration was a part of the College of Creative and Liberal Arts celebration week for the combination of the college of liberal arts and the college of arts and communications. Students observed as officers explained how the dogs are purchased, trained and what happens to the dogs after retirement. Officers said the dogs are “very expensive” and are often trained from the time they are born to be police work dogs. Officers themselves have to go through an interview process to become a part of the K-9 unit, and then go through a six-week training to learn how to handle the dogs. When they retire, the officers handling the dogs have a transaction process they can go through to purchase the dog and keep them.

For more information, please reach out to Annalise Murphy at [email protected]