Partners with Paws: What It’s Like Working in the K-9 Unit

Man’s best friend can also be a criminal's worst nightmare. Just ask San Diego Police Officer Jason Langley. He’s worked with the department for 12 years, six of those with police dogs in the K-9 (canine) unit. 

Langley was named Canine Handler of the Year in 2024 by the San Diego Police Foundation. He speaks lovingly to A&E Crime + Investigation about his Belgian Malinois named Ace, who was nearing retirement in August 2025 upon turning 8 years old.

Why did you decide to join the K-9 unit?

I’ve always been a dog guy. If you asked me in the academy, [I would have said,] “Oh, I want to be in the gang unit.” K-9 was never even on my radar. They showed up to our calls and to me, they were the problem solvers. They got to go to all the good calls, the high priority calls. I met a handler and he kind of took me under his wing. He invited me out to train and I was like, “Wow, this is pretty cool.” I had the bite suit on. I remember the first time I was taking a bite. He put me in the corner of a building to simulate a concealed felony suspect. He sent the dog in and I could hear its toenails hitting the floor. I was terrified. The dog found me, bit me on the arm. From then on, I kept coming out to training. Eventually, I put in for the unit. 

Do you find police dog handler jobs demanding?

Yes, 100%. You need to know how to handle this four-legged animal that has its own thoughts, has its own behaviors. It’s definitely balancing a lot between being a good officer and being able to handle these high drive dogs. Ideally, for a couple of years, you want to come out and decoy [before applying for a K-9 position], playing the role of the bad guy, putting the bite suit on and taking bites for the dogs.

Is Ace just a pet when you are both off duty?

No, no. When they’re off duty, you have to keep it very black and white for them, especially when a [new police] dog’s starting off. When they’re off duty, they’re hanging out in their kennel. It’s not like we’re leashing the dog up and taking them for a walk. They get a lot of their exercise and energy out at work. If I’m taking the dog out and introducing him to my family, my friends, everyone is coming over, the neighbors, then it’s kind of like everybody is a friend. We don’t want to over-socialize the dog. Some dogs are just not very social. 

What’s a typical day like for you and Ace?

We have kennels at work. If a handler’s on vacation or if a handler is injured, we’ll clean the kennels, give them a break. They go out, we have a large break area. That’s typically the start of our day, scooping poop and cleaning out pee from the kennels and feeding the dogs. The majority of our unit is apprehension. Some of the dogs are dual purpose [police dogs are trained in different specialties like finding cadavers, sniffing for bombs, etc.]. In my case, my dog is article trained, which means my dog will alert any items that have human odor on it. When I say alert, I could throw your wallet out into a field and I could direct my dog to go search that field and he’ll alert. He’ll find your wallet. I could use him to look for guns, I could use him to look for discarded items from a suspect. 

What kind of jobs are assigned to you and Ace?

The K-9 Unit specifically responds to crimes in progress or weapon calls or radio calls of violent persons. Typically, a canine handler is going to be exposed to higher priority calls than your average patrol officer. We primarily use our dogs as psychological deterrents. A lot of times we’ll talk to suspects once they’re in custody. [Police will ask,] “Hey, why did you give up?” They’ll tell us, “I didn’t want to get bitten by the dog.” 

One of my earlier apprehensions was a male. I think he was under the influence. He was inside of a 7-Eleven and he was actively trying to start it on fire. The store was filled with smoke, so you couldn’t really see where he was. It was very difficult for any officer to approach him. We gave our announcements at the door. What we do is give our warnings to try to get them to surrender. He refused. I sent Ace in there. Ace located him and apprehended him. Later on, on surveillance video, what we didn’t notice was that as we were giving our warnings, he had a champagne bottle held over his head, almost like in an ambush style, waiting for an officer to come around the corner. These dogs are so fast, [the suspect] didn’t have time to figure out what was happening. 

What safety concerns do cops have for the dogs?

We’ll never put our dogs knowingly on suicide missions. We’ve used Taser, bean bags, less lethal rounds [before releasing a dog to go after a suspect]. The next force option is officer involved shooting and that’s what we’re trying to prevent. Yes, there is a level of danger for the dogs, but when they apprehend these suspects, oftentimes they prevent an officer involved shooting. 

What fitness level does a K-9 officer need?

It’s definitely tough on the body. By no stretch of the imagination am I this super fit guy. You have to have a little bit of grit. If you’re coming to K-9, there’s handlers that have been bitten and there’s handlers that will be bit. I have scars all over my hand. I was just at a doctor’s appointment. They’re looking at my leg. I have scabs on my knee, on my shins, punctures on my hands. [They ask,] “Hey what do you do? What happened? Did you fall down a hill, or something?” I was like, “No, just doing some dog training.”

What else should people know about police dogs?

If the dogs could drive to the radio calls, we’d be out of a job.