The Hanover County Sheriff's Office currently has four handler/canine teams. This unit is assigned to Uniform Patrol Operations and each member has extensive training in multiple patrol techniques to include:

• Tracking
• Apprehension
• Building searches

The canine teams are certified annually through the Virginia Police Workdog Association. The unit has been utilized in many different situations to include:

• Article searches for criminal evidence
• High-risk occurrences
• Locating lost children and senior adults