Police Dog Training Exercise Draws Attention
This is the story of 10 canine police officers, a high school basketball game, a concert and, perhaps, a lack of communication.
Let’s first start with the police dogs from the Dearborn Police Department and six other police agencies from the surrounding area.
For nearly 10 years, the police have used Dearborn High School for training exercises as way to keep the skills of police dogs sharp. This is a good thing.
Such was the case on Thursday, Feb. 25 when police and their K-9s arrived in the evening at Dearborn High School to do their usual training.
Trouble is few, if any, nearby residents, parents and students attending a basketball game and a concert at the high school that evening knew there was a training exercise going on.
Dearborn High School’s principal didn’t know at the time but was at the school and did talk to officers that evening. A school official told us the permit required to do the training in the school was likely approved months in advance and it simply wasn’t on the principal’s radar. The school district says it did not receive any phone calls from parents about the training after the fact so the concern about why police cars were at the high school that night apparently came from residents who live near the high school.
The City of Dearborn issued a press release the day after the training exercise with the following headline: “Police dog training exercise explained after drawing community attention.” The press release also appeared in the Sunday edition of the Dearborn Press & Guide.
We fully support this type of training but in this day and age when airports, schools and cities operate with heightened security concerns, perhaps it might be a good idea to share with residents at least a day before, not after.
As for residents, if you ever do have questions after seeing police activity in Dearborn, please call 943-2201.
February 28th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
nosey neighbors scared of everything, probably staring out their windows!
my god, people cry when they dont see a police car in their neighborhood and shit their pants when they see more than 2?
February 28th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
“my god, people cry when they dont see a police car in their neighborhood and shit their pants when they see more than 2?”
Haa haa haa……
March 1st, 2010 at 12:06 am
Attended the concert to hear the incredible Dearborn High chamber orchestra, concert band, symphony band, jazz band and drum line all play on one special night…
Could not believe how rude it was to hear the dogs yapping from down the hall over the first set of the performance! It was annoying and almost comical how the loud shrill dog barks competed with the strings… A bit annoying too that all the police teams took up the nearest parking.
March 1st, 2010 at 6:06 am
“Could not believe how rude it was to hear the dogs yapping from down the hall over the first set of the performance!”
Are you blaming the police, who apparently had permission to use the school, or the high school for not knowing what the schedule was?
How far away did you have to park?
March 1st, 2010 at 11:37 am
DHS Parent: you are spot on. I am okay with the training but really does it have to happen on a day when two major events are going on? Even worse is the principal had no clue the training was even taking place until this massive group of police with barking dogs entered the building. that, to me, is a pretty big oversight.
March 1st, 2010 at 1:04 pm
you should have seeen the waste of officer resources for the iraqi religous parade a few weeks ago on warren and chase. there were thousands of iraqis with bull horns, giant black flags, and sticks hitting themselfs in the head. there must have been over 20 cops there from dearborn alone. who was watching the rest of the city.
March 1st, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Doesn’t DHS have a coordinator for building usage??? Someone has to do the scheduling – in this case, guess not.
March 1st, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Are you guys kidding? I was there that night and the dogs were in no way a disturbance to the concert. One police officer entered by the auditorium and the dog barked ONCE!! The training was nowhere near the auditorium. People get real!! As for the principal…I would imagine he knew that training took place in the building but maybe didn’t know it was that particular night. This is what Dearborn finds newsorthy? This is what the Press & Guide now has to report? Petty Petty Petty!!