K-9 Unit
Thank You for Your Service, K-9 Jet
After five and a half years of dedicated service to the community, K-9 Jet is hanging up his tracking harness and retiring. Jet will remain in the care of his handler, Officer Lauren Olson, and her family. Jet has a stellar reputation as he assisted Burnsville Police in locating numerous dangerous and wanted persons during his career. Jet spent his time with Burnsville Police responding to the most dangerous, in-progress calls and has been an invaluable asset in helping keep both officers and the community safe. Jet proudly served his community and will be deeply missed by his partners. Jet is excited to spend his retirement years patrolling his yard for squirrels, going for walks with his family and enjoying endless pup cups.
Although we are sad to say goodbye to Jet, we are excited to announce that a new K-9 will be joining Burnsville Police later this year. The new K-9 will start training in February 2023 with a newly selected handler. To help raise funds to support the K-9 unit, the Burnsville Police Department is opening a community fundraiser. All proceeds donated by the community will be used to purchase the new dog and pay for the specialized training required to get the dog ready for daily patrol operations.
If you would like to make a contribution, Donate Now through our secure system or please make checks payable to City of Burnsville and note K-9 Unit in the memo and deliver to:
| Burnsville Police Station 100 Civic Center Parkway Burnsville, MN 55337 |
Donations to the K-9 fund help secure training and equipment. Any amount is appreciated!
Jet
Burnsville's K-9s
Police service dogs (K-9s) are used in law enforcement primarily because of their superior scenting and locating abilities. Police K-9s' superior sense of smell and the ability to recognize and respond to a wide variety of scents allow them to locate persons and contraband much more efficiently and effectively than humans. K-9s also allow the police department to resolve dangerous situations in a more safe and efficient manner. In Burnsville, we have the benefit of two teams - Officer Lauren Smith and her K-9 partner "Jet" (Jet will be retiring this year), along with Officer Tim Pfaff and his K-9 partner "Blaze."
Both dogs are used as locating tools and are trained to conduct building and large area searches for hidden criminals, tracking lost persons and criminals, article/evidence searches, and narcotics detection. The dogs are also featured at numerous community education functions and public canine agility demonstrations.
The dogs and their handlers completed a specialized 12-week training program before going to work, where they are used for criminal apprehension, tracking, evidence search and recovery, and narcotics detection.
Unit History
Burnsville's canine unit started in 1982 with Starsky. Fifteen dogs have served in the unit and we will welcome our newest K-9 member in early 2023:
Starsky
Cassidy
Colonel
Hunter
Mack
Buck
Baron
Louie
Stryker
Dagger
Razor
Echo
Rex
Jet
Blaze
1982-1988
1983-1990
1988-1992
1991-1992
1992-1996
1993-1997
1997-2004
1997-2005
2005-2010
2004-2011
2011-2014
2010-2017
2014-2018
2017-Present
2021-Present