Why Did Police Start Using Dogs?
Initially, police began using dogs back in the late 1800s in the United Kingdom. Bloodhounds were trained and deployed in an effort to hunt down “Jack the Ripper” by 1888. This is the earliest recorded instance of police using dogs in an official capacity.
Dogs bring many talents to the table that surpass our natural abilities. A stronger sense of smell, speed, and agility, to name a popular few that are most commonly utilized by Police K9 Units.
Are All Dogs Considered to be K9s?
The answer is yes, all dogs are considered to be canines or K9s. Whether they’re domesticated or as wild as a Raccoon Dog, all of them land under this classification.
Despite their differences in appearances, canines all use the same general group of tools for survival (including genetics in most cases), which binds them together under this classification.
Mammals who have snouts and un-retractable claws are generally considered to be Canines by Zoologists.
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Origin of the term K-9 unit
An Elephind newspaper database search turns up at least one instance of “K-9 unit” from World War II. From “5th Infantry Dog Up to Snuff With 201 File” in the [Colorado Springs, Colorado] Camp Carson Mountaineer (November 11, 1943):
Newspaper references to “K-9 corps” during the same year are far more numerous, however. Here are the earliest three such instances. From “Two Coronado Dogs Accepted by Armys Dogs for Defense,” in the Coronado [California] Journal (January 7. 1943):
“Denfense” appears to be a typo, but with stories like this one, you never know.
From “Fallas a Private,” in the [Newburgh, New York] Stewart Field United States Military Academy Prop Wash (March 9, 1943):
From an untitled item in the Suttons Bay [Michigan] Courier (April 8, 1943):
None of these early instances explains the origin of the name—but presumably thats because it was obviously chosen as a visual pun—making the verbal connection between the word canine and the military inclination to organize individuals (whether people or dogs) into groups with numerical IDs. The fact that “K-9 corps” and “K-9 unit” were appearing in newspapers across the country—from New York to Michigan to Colorado to California (along with instances in newspapers from Indiana, Texas, Virginia, and Hawaii)—within the year 1943 indicates that the name caught the fancy of working journalists (and evidently the U.S. public as well). I didnt find any mentions of “K-9 unit” or “K-9 corps” in the Elephind database from 1942 or earlier.
Man-dog team or police department subunit?
It seems worth noting that “K-9 unit”—like “K-9 corps”—originally applied to a section or group of trained military dogs, not to a particular pairing of a dog and its handler. In modern policing, however, people sometimes apply the the term “K-9 unit” to a man-dog team and sometimes to the unit of the police force that consists of such teams. Thus, for example, from “Local Man Fires Shot at Burglars, Suspects Escape Police Dragnet,” in the Louisville, Colorado Times (December 5, 1990, page 11) we have an instance of the “man-dag team” sense of the term:
But far more common in Elephinds newspaper matches is the term in its departmental sense, as in this instance from Shawn Dockry, “Kent Police Praise Dog Unit,” in the [Kent, Ohio] Daily Kent Stater (April 5, 1991):
The term appears to originate from the term “K-9 Corps”, being a shorthand for the Armys War Dog Program established during World War II. (http://www.qmfound.com/K-9.htm).
Also, “K-9 Unit” is often used to refer to both the police dog as well as its handler. So a simple replacement with “police dog” would be insufficient.
Oddly enough, there is an early sci-fi movie called Just Imagine that was released in 1930. It depicts the future of New York City in 1980 where humans are referred to by numbers. The dog is referred to as K9 even with a tag on it that reads K9. I wonder if this is where it all started.
The origin of the term K-9 goes back as early as 1857; and it was first used as a number assigned for a stray dog, per Greens Slang Dictionary.
Update: In the above citation, Ive originally thought the number K 9 was also assigned to the stray dog by the sergeant because K 9 sounds like canine and GDoS provides the citation under the meaning “a dog”. Sven Yargs has found additional valuable information from Australian archive below where it is mentioned that K 9 is the badge number of the sergeant; and the original usage of K 9 is connected to the police department and the dog indirectly:
After that, the term was adopted by U.S Army first for the War Dog Program (K-9 Corps) during World War II and then it was adopted for the police dogs.
From 2000, the term has the sense a corrections officer also, per Greens Slang Dictionary:
Further read for the history of K9 breeds: K9 Working Breeds: Characteristics and Capabilities By Resi Gerritsen, Ruud Haak
1) “K-9” or “K9” — a typographic pun upon “canine”, inherited from military jargon. They could have said canine, or dog (though someone would surely then complain that they werent giving bitches equal credit). Someone just happened to like this bit of jargon, and it stuck.
2) “K9 Unit” — The “unit” isnt just the animal, but the team of the animal and its handler.
(The term sometimes also includes the vehicle, when it has been specially modified for this purpose. For example, the local K-9 units have the handler carry a transmitter which can remotely release the dog from their van. They do “live training” demos of this at some of the local fairs, showing how quickly the dog can be out of the van and assisting. Im not sure whether the transmitter has a deadman/man-down sensor or if the officer has to explicitly press a button; if I was designing it, it would support both modes.)
Additional: in the UK police, K9 unit dogs all have an official police rank: PD (police dog). The handler gives evidence in court, something like “We gave chase, and PD Rover apprehended the suspect.” PDs dont officially make an arrest because they cant read the suspect his/her rights!
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