JOPLIN, MO.--- "All of our departments dogs come together and we just do various types of training that we would be doing on the street," states Travis Walthall, K-9 Trainer.
A 8 hour course made for training was the Joplin Police Department K-9 teams first time in a new location.
A 8 hour course made for training was the Joplin Police Department K-9 teams first time in a new location.
"We have some calls for service, obviously, to local hotels. So, it's a realistic training environment," states Walthall.
An environment the unit had been lacking since the old South Middle School was destroyed in the 2011 tornado.
"Most of our training isn't done in any particular building, we'll go out to Chucks Towing on East 32nd and use their vehicles for narcotic training. If we can get into a school, we'll do that," says Walthall.
Having new access to train at local motels will take this training to the next level.
"It can simulate a house or an office or just a variety of different environments for our dogs to become accustomed to working in, and it helps us as officers as well," says Walthall.
Officers say having well trained dogs like Scout makes the job both easier and safer.
"It makes it a lot easier. They do stuff that people can't do, people can't track someone through the woods and a dog can, so that's what's great about it," states Joshua Hanes, JPD K-9 Officer.
Progress trainers say the dogs will only improve with the addition of new facilities like this one.
"It shows when we go out of town to large seminars, I think our department has an excellent K-9 program, it has for many years so we're just maintaining that level and trying to excel as we can," says Walthall.
Officers will also use the Capri Motel on South Main Street as a training site.
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