The Estevan Police Service’s K9 unit has been active recently, and showing its versatility.
Const. Paul Chabot and police dog Max have had some high-profile calls recently. Max was involved with finding some drugs in a bag earlier this month, and there was another call in which Chabot said there was a call in which someone might have been barricaded inside a building with a weapon.
In that latter case, there wasn’t anybody inside, but it was a complicated situation, and Max helped to check out the scene and make sure nobody was there.
“He’s a dual-purpose dog, so he does the drug work as well as the criminal apprehension and finding evidence and things like that,” said Chabot.
Max is also trained for missing person cases, and was called out to help find a child who vanished following a minor football practice.
That was the first time he has been called for a missing person, Chabot said.
Activity levels for Max have come in spurts, Chabot said. They have had times in which numerous incidents have happened in a relatively short amount of time, but there have been slower times as well.
He compared it to traditional police work, with some nights that are quiet and others in which they’re “running off their feet.”
There have been times in which he and Max have been off-duty, and they have been called in to help with a case. But most of his calls have been during their scheduled shifts, for such incidents as drug searches or people fleeing from him, since Chabot is still part of a regular patrol unit.
“We do conditions checks on people, so people who are on conditions to submit to a search from the police,” said Chabot. “I can bring Max into their house, and check to see if they have drugs or anything in their house. So that is done likely on a weekly basis.”
He knew there would be times in which he would get a phone call in the middle of the night to assist police, and both he and Max get excited when they get called into work on short notice.
Chabot said he gets to work with Max every day, whether it be for calls for service or to further their training.
“It’s just an added bonus to my job, and I’m fortunate to get to work with him every day,” said Chabot. “He just adds another level, another aspect to my job.”
The duo has also been to senior citizen facilities to make presentations, and will be making more going forward. They have also appeared at community events, and have been to the Estevan Comprehensive School for presentations to students.
They are looking forward to visiting the elementary schools to show the students his capabilities.
“He went to a couple of elementary schools last year towards the end of the year, and I think we’re looking in the future here just to go out there and do some more presentations,” said Chabot.
It’s been a great experience thus far, Chabot said. The K9 unit is a rewarding part of police work, and in a lot of ways, it’s been everything that he expected.
