Working dogs have been used for decades in a variety of fields. One common career field for working dogs is working with police departments, such as the Kaua`i Police Department (KPD). They first brought dogs to the team in the late 1980’s and have had dogs on the force ever since.

The newest dog to KPD is a Belgian Malinois named Kratos. He joined the vice unit in January 2023, the same time that his handler, Blake Maura, moved to the unit.

Kratos and Maura had been practicing his detection skills wherever possible, from the old water department in Lihue to baseball fields all over the island, even utilizing the overflow lots at rental car agencies. This training was in preparation to earn the American Working Dog and California Narcotics Canine Association certifications. As they ran out of new places, they reached out to Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) in hopes of using spaces on base.

“When we place the aids, the odor lingers so we can’t use the same place over and over again,” said Herb Nakamura, owner and trainer of Hawai`i K9 Koncepts. “We always have to keep moving and his training is six weeks so you can imagine trying to find fresh places can be hard.”

Using the command “zoeken”, which is Dutch for “search”, Kratos was trained to detect crystal meth amphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. Thanks to PMRF and places throughout the community offering spaces for practice he earned his certifications on April 13 and can now be fully utilized by the KPD.

“We really want to build the relationship between KPD and PMRF going forward,” Maura said, explaining why he was so excited to be able to do some training on PMRF.

Maintaining a positive relationship with the local community in all aspects is a high priority for PMRF. Working with KPD offers a perfect opportunity to do just that while also strengthening PMRF as a whole.

“He got part of that training and success from training here on the base that we afforded him and they really appreciate that,” said Major James Rodriguez, operations officer at PMRF. “We really got to take advantage when they do come out and accommodate them as best as we can.”

Creating a strong working relationship with KPD helps to ensure that in the event of an actual emergency, everyone is prepared to respond and work coherently. Offering the use of our facilities also greatly increases the chance of KPD extending an invitation should PMRF ever need to utilize one of their facilities.

“The beauty of training together is that they can come out and see how the Navy thinks,” said Rodriguez. “I’d rather do it and make mistakes during training versus in the real world where people could get hurt. It’s vital that we train together because that guess work could be life and death.”

Just a week after Kratos came to PMRF, KPD got another working dog and there are already plans for him to practice using our facilities. As PMRF continues to build that relationship with KPD it should be expected to see those officers and dogs on base more often.