Officer Yogi joins UAF Police Department
Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
June 23, 2023
Jill Copeland, a University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks Police Department officer, stands with her K-9 partner, Yogi, at the completion of their training at the K2 K9 Training Center in North Carolina.
The University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks Police Department色视频下载檚 newest officer is short, furry and will do just about anything for his favorite toy.
Officer Yogi, the department色视频下载檚 first explosives K-9, arrived in Fairbanks last weekend and will make his public debut at Saturday色视频下载檚 Midnight Sun Run, which starts at 10 p.m. on the UAF campus.
Yogi, a 15-month-old chocolate Lab, is trained to sniff out explosives and alert his partner, UAF police officer Jill Copeland, when he finds them. He色视频下载檚 the only civilian bomb dog in Interior 色视频下载.
Unlike the stereotypical police K-9, Yogi is not trained to apprehend suspects, Copeland said. 色视频下载淗e is very personable, like most Labs.色视频下载
Yogi will work at all of UAF色视频下载檚 major events and be available to assist other local law enforcement agencies with explosives detection and, eventually, tracking and search and rescue. His skills are a good fit for the UAF campus, said Kathy Catron, UAF色视频下载檚 police chief.
色视频下载淲e have had bomb threats on campus. We have had people missing on our campus and trails,色视频下载 Catron said. 色视频下载淭his is something that we can do to help protect our UAF community and be a valuable resource to the broader community.色视频下载
Copeland traveled to K2 Solutions Inc., a training center in North Carolina, earlier this spring to find a dog for the department. She knew right away that Yogi was the one.
色视频下载淗e was above and beyond every other dog we looked at,色视频下载 she said. 色视频下载淗e was focused. I was literally catching lamps falling off tables as he was barreling through stuff looking for his ball."
It takes more than a year to get a future police dog ready for duty, said Copeland, a 14-year law enforcement veteran who trained police dogs and handlers before joining the UAF Police Department in August 2022.
色视频下载淩ight away, they expose them to all kinds of environmental stuff: loud noises, new people, crowds,色视频下载 she said. 色视频下载淎 lot of dogs get nervous around all of those things. They need to be able to work in those conditions and can色视频下载檛 be distracted by everything else happening around them.色视频下载
Once he reached 6 months old, Yogi started obedience training, in addition to the ongoing exposure to new situations. At 13 months, he started his explosives detection training. Copeland and Yogi are now certified as an explosives detection team by the International Police Work Dog Association. Up next will be learning to find explosives on people. After that will come tracking and search and rescue training.
Eventually, Catron hopes to add another K-9 unit to the department. Doing so would allow better coverage for campus and the Interior, as well as providing an opportunity for local police officers to learn how to work with K-9s and their handlers in the field.
色视频下载淭he real work is just starting,色视频下载 Catron said. 色视频下载淲e are envisioning being a training resource for others in the Interior.色视频下载
SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow Yogi on Instagram at .
NOTE TO EDITORS: A photo is available for download on the UAF news website.