NCJ Number
201644
Journal
Community Corrections Report Volume: 10 Issue: 5 Dated: July/August 2003 Pages: 67,75
Date Published
July 2003
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This article describes the experience of one dog handler for the South Dakota Department of Corrections (DOC).
Abstract
Through the use of a 1998 Byrne Grant, the South Dakota DOC was able to purchase one K-9 and the equipment necessary to maintain it. Sgt. Mark Kannenberg, the author, was the dog handler for this first K-9 and he shares his experiences performing searches for the DOC and the Sioux Falls Police Department. Since K-9’s were rare in South Dakota at that time, the author was called on by the police department to aid in the search of parolees. The author explains that parolees and their roommates and effects are open for random searches as a condition of their parole. The K-9 unit helped greatly in the detection and confiscation of contraband materials. When three other K-9’s were purchased in the area, the author was called upon less frequently, leading to an examination of how to make himself and his K-9 more useful to the department. This ultimately led to an arrangement in which the author performed once a month K-9 searches of parolees and their vehicles in the parole office. The author describes the impact the K-9 searches had on parolees behaviors and on the efficiency with which the parole officer operated.