NEWS

Note: Details about a visual opportunity with Atos
on Monday morning (March 15) are below.

By RANDY YOUNG
Department of Public Safety

CHAPEL HILL – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s department of public safety has created a new K9 patrol unit, with one sworn officer and a dog trained in searching for explosives and in tracking. That is a first at a North Carolina college or university and in Orange County.

Atos, a pedigreed German shepherd, is handled by UNC Officer Davoren Carr. Originally trained in the Czech Republic, the 2-year-old male dog follows obedience commands spoken only in Czech. The pair recently completed further training in explosives detection and in the handling and care of the dog through an instructor in North Carolina.

The new unit will be involved in preparation activities for events including visiting speakers, large-scale special events and football and basketball games. The K9 unit will also aid in the tracking of suspects or missing persons. Previously, UNC’s public safety department used K9 units from outside agencies for such events. The creation of the new K9 unit was made possible by a one-time allocation of funding from UNC’s university budget committee.

"Atos is just the latest tool to help our department advance an aggressive community-oriented policing philosophy," said Chief Derek Poarch, director of public safety. "This philosophy not only addresses crime itself , but also the fear of crime. We’re very pleased that the university has recognized our commitment to the community and is helping us to stay on the cutting edge of law enforcement."

Atos has been trained to identify and track the scents of up to nine of the chemicals most commonly found in explosives. Carr received training in handling Atos at the Mid-Atlantic Canine Co., a North Carolina-based agency headed by Richard Rogers, who worked as a handler and instructor for the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C.

"We’re still getting to know each other to some degree," said Carr. "He’s still really a puppy, so he’s still learning. Also, I’m learning to be a better handler."

Carr will continue training with Atos this fall, when the team will receive instruction toward certification through the U.S. Police Canine Association.

The K9 unit is the UNC department of public safety’s most recent initiative in community-oriented policing. Last fall, the department received a major national award for those efforts and a highly successful larceny-reduction program from the International Association of Chiefs of Police and ITT Industries Night Vision. UNC’s program was chosen for the 2003 Community Policing Award among agencies serving 20,001 to 50,000 people.

UNC’s public safety department is one of only 30 college and university public safety agencies in the country that are accredited. It is the only university department in North Carolina to have earned that honor from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. The UNC department was first accredited in 1995.

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Visual opportunity/demonstration: Carr, Poarch and other UNC public safety officials will present Atos to interested media representatives from 11 a.m. to noon Monday (March 15) at UNC’s McCorkle Place, the quadrangle between Franklin Street and South Building. Media representatives may park in the Swain lot off Cameron Avenue. Tell the lot attendant you are attending the K9 unit demonstration. Rain location: Public Safety Building Emergency Operation Center Room (at the top of Morrison Drive off Manning Drive)

Public Safety contact: Randy Young, (919) 962-1502 or ryoung1@email.unc.edu

News Services contact: Staff, (919) 962-2091