Dozens of K-9 teams hold police dog training at State Farm Stadium in Glendale
GLENDALE, Ariz. - K9 teams across the region have made their way to the Valley for explosive detection training.
The free two-day program will help K9s stay proficient in recognizing the odors they're trained to detect, and their teams are put through several real life scenarios.
"Working with DHS, they have set up different scenarios. They have put different materials within the boxes and containers, and these teams consist of one officer and one canine," said Lieutenant Brian Knueppel from Phoenix Police Department.
"They go into scenarios not knowing where any of this stuff is at. Not only do they use real materials, they also have things like distractors that would throw the team off," said Knueppel.
With major events happening at stadiums like State Farm Stadium like the upcoming Super Bowl, Patrick Clinton with the Phoenix Police Department's bomb squad says he's happy to train here with his dog soldier.
"We don't have the opportunity to train in a big event like this in a coliseum, so it is good to get in this environment," said Clinton. "We don't have to change what we do, we just have to expose the dogs to a different environment."
Clinton says sharing information and techniques with teams from around the region will lead to safer events.