The Chamblee Police Department (CPD) recently launched a new K9 program following approval from the city council.
At the June 20 Chamblee City Council Meeting, city leaders approved CPD’s request to launch a K9 program.
Chamblee! Meet K-9 Robin. He is our newest member of the Chamblee Police Dept. City leaders approved for the dept to launch a K-9 Program. This program will be initiated under Officer David Luna-Rodriguez. Help us welcome Robin to the team! pic.twitter.com/XX5DKQd3Yz
— Chamblee GA (@ChambleeGA) June 22, 2023
In CPD’s pitch to the city council regarding the launch of a K9 program, the department revealed, “Currently, in Chamblee, the response of mutual aid to get a K9 on the scene of an incident is approximately 30 to 40 minutes or longer, or no response at all. These times make it difficult to locate missing people or evidence of a crime. Statistics show that 60 percent of tracks are successful within the first 10 to 20 minutes of an incident. Lowering by 10 percent every 5 minutes after that. Odor starts to disappear every minute that passes by.”
CPD added, “A K9 is the only tool in Police work that can be recalled if a situation changes. Once you fire your firearm or taser, there is no stopping it if the situation changes.”
Noting that “K9 units can positively impact community relations with the police,” CPD added, “The presence of highly trained K9 units instills a sense of safety and security in the community.”
The department’s program will be initiated under Officer David Luna-Rodriguez who has been with CPD since March and has been training canines since 2008.
Officer Luna-Rodriguez owns and trains two-year old Robin, a Belgian Malinois from Holland certified by the South Georgia K9 Academy, who was recently welcomed as CPD’s first K9 officer.
Robin is certified by the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association (NNDDA) and is also certified in narcotics, articles searches, tracking, and apprehension.
Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp took to Twitter to congratulate CPD on its new K9 program, tweeting, “Exciting news from Chamblee! Our brave K-9 officers do important work assisting with investigations and outreach, and they keep our communities safe. Robin will be a great addition to the team!”
Exciting news from Chamblee! Our brave K-9 officers do important work assisting with investigations and outreach, and they keep our communities safe. Robin will be a great addition to the team! https://t.co/vBgwn9vDsk
— First Lady Marty Kemp (@GAFirstLady) June 24, 2023
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network.
Photo “K-9 Unit Robin” by Chamblee GA.
