The Chandler Police Department Canine Unit is currently comprised of five handler/dog teams.

The canines utilized by the Chandler Police Department are Belgian Malinois, and were selected due to the breed's durability and high energy level. Although not a widely recognized breed by the general public, the Belgian Malinois is popular with police departments around the world.

The canine/handler teams are utilized in a support role, and provide assistance to officers by conducting the following duties:

• Building searches for hidden suspects
• Field/area searches for suspects and missing persons
• Trailing suspects in criminal and non-criminal situations
• Narcotic detection
• Crowd control
• Apprehending suspects
• Deterring criminal activity

The canine units have been working the streets of Chandler since 1974, and have been very successful in carrying out their assigned duties.

They are responsible for numerous criminal arrests, often finding suspects who have fled from officers or a crime scene and are in hiding. Most all of these arrests would not have occurred if not for their superior sense of smell.

The canines have also been useful in preventing officers from resorting to the use of deadly force. On four specific instances, Chandler Police canines were utilized to incapacitate a person where the use of deadly force was imminent. Two of these instances involved "Rocky" (Officer Foster's previous dog now retired), who disarmed suspects in possession of handguns during S.W.A.T. (special weapons and tactics team) deployments.

Training of the canines is critical to the continued high level of performance expected. In addition to the initial eight weeks of training, the canines are subjected to weekly in-service training sessions which last a minimum of six hours. All areas of performance are reinforced during the training sessions, which also maintains a high level of proficiency of the handler/dog team. The training sessions are also conducted with handler/dog teams from several surrounding police agencies.

The canine teams are additionally involved in conducting demonstrations for public and civic organizations. The dogs are a hit with children and adults alike, and open up an avenue of communication with officers.