Law enforcement K-9 teams get certified in Columbus

Thirty-three law enforcement K-9 teams from Montana and Wyoming converged on Columbus last week for a national North American Police Work Dog Association (NAPWDA) certification workshop.
The teams battled through sweltering conditions to earn required annual re-certifications in their respective specialties of bomb detection, cadaver detection, drugs detection and apprehension.
Approximately 60 percent of the teams were single-purpose drug dogs, said Stillwater County Sheriff’s Sgt. Randy Smith, who is also an NAPWDA instructor and helped run the program for the second consecutive year in Columbus.
All but two teams were successfully re-certified. Teams from Sidney, Billings, Dillon, the U.S. Border Patrol and Customs and the Montana Highway Patrol were in attendance.
Not surprisingly, the Border Patrol dogs performed remarkably well on the indoor drug search involving a line of suitcases in a hallway with one containing illegal drugs. Rooms and vehicles were also searched.
Cadaver certification was conducted just outside of Columbus at a private pond and aggression certification was conducted at the Columbus High School football field.
NAPWDA is a nationally accredited organization launched in 1977 comprised of K-9 handlers around the world, according to the group’s website. The organization is dedicated to assisting police dog work through service training workshops and one national workshop a year at which legal updates, new techniques and certifications are presented.
Kevin Klostermeier, who for a short time in the 1990s was a Columbus police officer and currently works as a special agent for the Montana Department of Criminal Investigations, is one of the only master trainers with NAPWDA in Montana and travels out of state to conduct certification. Smith is also a NAPWDA trainer.