POLICE K-9 UNITS TRY FOR TOP DOG HONORS

50 Agencies to Arrive

MANTECA -- The Manteca Police Department is gearing up for its 34th
annual Western States K9 Competition, which will bring police dogs and
their officer handlers to the city from all over the state and Nevada.

As many as 50 agencies come to the two-day event to compete in
different areas of police work that are typical of what the dogs do on
patrol every day.

The event opens the evening of Friday, April 30, and continues all day
Saturday, May 1, at Morenzone Field on West Center Street. Only the
May 1 events will be open to the public.

The dogs and their handlers will receive awards in the various
categories.

On the evening of April 30, they will compete in narcotics detection.
This event will not be open to the public.

Then, at 8 a.m. May 1, the competition will include obedience,
searching and agility. After that at 1 p.m., there will be
competitions in master protection and apprehension.

There also will be special competitions for novice dogs and
handlers.

The Manteca Police Department has the second oldest canine unit in the
county. The oldest unit is in Stockton.

While they are well known in the San Joaquin County for the success of
their police dogs, Manteca officers don't generally compete in the
competition because they are the host agency.

However, the canine unit has earned hundreds of awards in canine
competitions throughout the Western United States.

Currently, the department has the only two working nar-cotics dogs in
the county. They are trained for finding heroin, methamphetamine,
marijuana and cocaine, said spokesman Rex Osborn.

Because its canine unit is larger than those of most other
departments, Manteca has its own "in-house" trainer, who handles all
the aspects of training.

Manteca Police dogs have been used to find lost people, search
buildings and open areas, protect their handlers and citizens, hold
suspects at bay, find lost items and for crowd control.

The public portion of the competition begins at 8 a.m. May 1 at
Morenzone Field, Union and Center streets in Manteca. Admission is
free. For more information, contact the Manteca Police Department at
(209) 239-8410.