Hillsborough's police dogs help combat and deter crime as well as build relations with the community. They help:

• Encourage violent offenders to surrender.
• Capture criminal suspects.
• Locate illegal narcotics.
• Track and search for missing persons, suspects or evidence.

Hillsborough's canine officers are born in Europe and receive early training there before traveling to a canine training facility in Sanford. The facility in Sanford provides additional training for police dogs and their handlers.

The police dogs are certified annually by an independent trainer. Each month, the canine officers and their handlers train for at least 16 hours in a variety of scenarios and in different locations and weather conditions. They also train with handlers and dogs from surrounding agencies.