Zoe Adler | Signal Tribune
The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Regional Explosives Detection Dog Initiative (REDDI) hosted a canine training event from 10am to noon on Thursday, Aug. 27 at the Long Beach Convention Center that included odor recognition trials and reality-based operational search scenarios, according to a DHS statement.
Pictured is Officer Jerry Carter, a K-9 handler, with Jax, a dog trained in both patrol and explosive detection, working through an odor-recognition test, or ORT.
DHS Science and Technology Directorate Canine Program Manager Don Roberts explained that through REDDI events like the one in Long Beach and through ORTs, local police can evaluate their training techniques while helping with research.
“One of the things we’re trying to understand with this exercise is how well they train on one particular odor and then how they can generalize to other similar odors,” Roberts said. “It informs how they can train more effectively and efficiently.”
