In an effort to inspire students, the Lindenhurt High School has invited guest visitors from all walks of life to share their stories, one of those being a New York police officer and his patrol dog, Buck.  His name is Steven Famiglietti and he’s an officer in the K9 unit, and he’s been on the job for 22 years. He has been a K9 officer for 6 years. Officer Famiglietti talked about the importance of a college degree in order to get where he is today. After college, he worked in the New York Police Department (NYPD). However, in 2002, after 9/11, he transferred to the Port Authority. 

Buck, Steven’s patrol dog, isn’t just any old dog. Police animals go through an immense amount of training and are highly intelligent. There are three types of police dogs: patrol, narcotics detection, and explosive detection dogs. As you can see, these canines have very important jobs, which is why not just any pet can take on the role. Some of the breeds that are eligible for K9 training are German Shepards, Boxers, Pit Bull Terriors, Bloodounds, Belgian Malinois, and Dobermanns. The dogs have to be of a strong breed. They are required to go through initial training that is about 3 months long, and then additional training all throughout the year. They have agility training and obedience training where not only the canine is trained, the handler has to go through training as well. These dogs are trained in tackling, protecting, obeying rules while off leash, and having the sense to search areas/people. When on a case, they need to know to search every nook and cranny of the area. These dogs are important because they have over 300 million scent receptors, while humans only have around 6 million. They are able to find more things that a human, no matter how professional,  may not always be able to catch.  As you can see, these dogs and officers have highly important, and dangerous, jobs and Lindenhurst High School was lucky to have been met with Steven and Buck!