The Blair Police Department established a Canine Team in the spring of 2004 to serve as a support unit available to assist officers with various duties.

Officers within the Department applied for the position of Canine Handler. Officer Travis Lyon was selected. After an exhaustive search, the Department located and purchased “Teka” a female Belgian Malinois to serve as Officer Lyon’s partner. Together Officer Lyon and Teka attended Police Service Dog Team training, an eleven week long course at the Nebraska State Patrol Training Academy in Grand Island, Nebraska. Our Team graduated in April 2004.

Since then, the Canine Team has proven themselves to be a valuable asset to the Department and the community. Not only is the Team used to assist officers in the field by tracking suspects or missing persons, but they also assist in apprehensions and are capable of searching buildings and locating evidence. Teka is trained to recognize the odor of narcotics including: marijuana, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other drugs.

The Canine Team is required to train regularly and renew their certification annually.