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K-9 Record Keeping Articles-'Training and Usage Records…An Overview' |
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Written By: Bob Ives
Author/ KANINE Records Software
Training and Usage Records…An Overview
You know the drill, your K9 team gets called to a rural highway 2 miles outside of town for a man who has run off into the woods after being chased by one of your fellow officers. You run hot to the scene; your K9 partner is spinning circles in the cage behind you. The adrenaline is flowing like the Colorado River.
You arrive on scene and track the suspect 300 feet into a ravine where he ducked into a sink hole, hoping that nobody would find him. Oh what fun, right? Now it’s over, the bad guy is in jail, the tow truck has taken his 1993 Chevy Cavalier into tow yard custody. What now?
After meeting the guys at the office, all still a little stoked up of course, and getting the informal after action discussion completed, it’s time to start the paperwork, ouch!
There are as many different methods of recording training and usage records as there are agencies that employ K-9s, I’m sure. Some officers have a simple hand written report that they fill out and then add it to their collection of reports that are quickly filling a large metal cabinet. Others utilize a K-9 Records Software package such as KANINE, KATS or Command. And, don’t forget those officers that keep no records of their training or Usage at all.
Why do we keep Training and Usage records? Well for one, the courts say that we have to. We have to be able to prove that we have properly trained and maintained our K9. If we don’t we can not only lose cases, but we could face lawsuits that take money from us and our agency. Not to mention the fact that if the city views the K9 as a liability, the K9 unit may well be dissolved.
Another reason for keeping training records is for monitoring the progress of the K9. To this end, a good K9 records software package will do much to automate the process of comparing the K9’s overall proficiency in both training and usage situations. KANINE software has specific field functionality within the Training and Usage activity records as well as corresponding reports that allow the user to show what the success and failure percentages are for each type of activity. This information can be very useful in training and can also be very convincing in court scenarios. My recommendation, of course, is to purchase and use a Software package that has been specifically designed to track K-9 training, usage and medical information.
What about hiring an outside company to create a custom software package for our agency? This is always an option. But, be warned that those who do not specifically make this kind of software are at a great disadvantage in understanding the ins and outs of K-9 work. I have yet to hear of a system that was created by an outside company as a custom project for a department, which was not loathed by the officers. In other words, don’t go to a Jiffy Lube to buy doughnuts. It’s just going to leave a bad taste in your mouth.
Get into a good routine! The best thing that you can do as a K9 handler is to get yourself into a good training routine and then be persistent about your documentation. I recommend that you enter your training records as soon after your training for the day has been completed as possible. If you are performing a day long training session, update your records at lunch or break time. If you do not have access to your computer, you should write everything down on paper so that you can enter the records later. If you don’t, you’ll surely forget many of the details of the session. Or, your training information may not get recorded at all.
KANINE 2006 has a ‘Field Record’ that is printable from the links area of the Main Menu. This report has been designed to record a great majority of the training or usage information that you’ll need to remember for later. So, pre-print a handful of these and keep them in your patrol car. Remember to transpose this information into your computerized system as soon as possible.
I don’t print out the records that I have entered into KANINE, is this okay? I have spoken to many agencies that use KANINE software to track their Usage and Training Records, but choose not to print the records. Of course, we all wish that we could be paperless, but in this instance it is my recommendation that you do go ahead and print your Training and Usage records themselves.
My reasoning behind this is that there has been more than one agency along the way that have called our tech support and said “Our computer crashed, our IT guys have it back up, but I can’t find my records now.” If you have a printout of your training and usage work, you will still be covered in court. If not, well, you see where I am going with this.
Another reason for printing records is for court itself. Eventually, we all go to court. And when we do, there is nothing more satisfying than dropping four large three ring binders at the defense attorney’s feet. I have yet to see one actually read them all, of course. Normally, the overwhelming evidence of your persistent training and successful usages will convince the attorney not to question your integrity as a handler or the reliability of the K-9 itself.
So, in ending, the evidence is overwhelming that we must record each and every aspect of our K9 training and work related usage as well as other information such as veterinary visits and certifications. In the words of an expensive shoe maker, ‘Just Do it!”.
Bob Ives
Code Blue Designs
2269 240th St- Stanton IA 51573
Copyright 2007. Code Blue Designs
