PUNTA GORDA, Fla. – It’s the holiday season which means the start of when law enforcement agencies see an uptick in crime.
Fox 4 caught up with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. They are preparing their K-9 unit for the holiday season.
“Being a holiday weekend, crime tends to increase so having a K9 by our side and going out to enforce crime and having them with us is tremendous,” said Deputy Steven Sella.
Deputies are training K9’s, including Ryker who is new to the squad. Each K9 is required to do 640 hours of training.
“120 hours of that is narcotics training, the other 520 hours is going to be patrol training,” said Deputy Sella.
We were there during narcotics training Tuesday afternoon.
The narcotics were once seized and now used for training purposes so the K9s are prepared for certain situations.
“They are not only able to go out and search for narcotics in a vehicle or residence, they are also vital in tracking criminal suspects who leave the scene of a crime,” said Deputy Sella.
Deputies said there’s more crime during the holidays and having their K9s ready to go is crucial.
