Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone today announced that Suffolk County recently held its inaugural K-9 regional training at Bethpage Ballpark in Central Islip. The training day, which was organized by Suffolk County Chief Fire Marshal Don Lynch, consisted of three dogs from K-9 teams trained in both accelerant and explosive detection, providing an opportunity to share information, training techniques, and best practices among various law enforcement agencies.
“This first of its kind training is designed to give law enforcement across the region a chance to learn how to better utilize their canine units in any type of situation,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “Canine units’ acute sense of smell, specialized training, and sheer dedication to their missions make them invaluable tools for fire prevention and detection.”
The training exercise was attended by the Suffolk County Fire Marshal’s Office, Suffolk County Arson Squad, ATF, and FDNY Marshal’s K-unit. Use of the stadium provided a variety of different challenges as well as real world settings, including the introduction of different smells and stimuli for the three dogs and an unfamiliar environment. The setting enabled the handlers and their K-9 partners to practice and hone their different skills.
Those in the Accelerant Detection Canine Program, or ADCs, have a sense of smell that is 100,000 times more acute than a human sense. The ADC dogs play a significant role in local communities’ fire prevention and education programs. In addition to averaging 90 fires a year, in their off hours, ADC teams head out into their communities to teach fire safety and prevention to kids and adults.
Throughout the exercise, Chief Fire Marshal Don Lynch and Fire Marshal Martinez hid targets of explosives and items with accelerants on them. The handlers instructed the guide dogs to search the area and detect them. The cold and wind made this task even more challenging. The training served to expose the animals to this challenging environment, both to gauge their responsiveness and accuracy as well as for instructional purposes.
Two of the dogs, Sasha and Bucca, are part of the accelerant detection K-9 unit. The K-9 specializing in explosives, Cara, was able to locate a hidden backpack containing explosives, under one of the several hundred seats in the stadium. Bucca works with the FDNY, and Sasha works in the Suffolk County Fire Marshal K-9 unit. Sasha is trained to sniff out fire-causing contaminants such as lighter fluid, lamp oil, gasoline, among others.
In 2014, Fire Marshal Brett Martinez, who trains with Sasha twice a day for two hours in the morning and afternoon, was recognized by the ATF as the longest running handler in the history of the Accelerant Detection Canine Program. In addition, Suffolk County has maintained the longest continuous relationship with the ATF since the inception of this program.
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