Las Vegas private security firm adds 3 new furry teammates as demand for K9s rise

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The demand for security, especially private security, has increased across the valley. As more large-scale events come to town and the valley keeps expanding, the requests for security and K9s go up.

That is why private security firm Protective Force International added three new K9s to its team.

The dogs work mostly at special events sniffing out explosives, drugs, and other banned substances.

“We send these dogs to any special details that we have: Downtown Fremont, casinos, and all-around town,” Sgt. Priscilla Lagler, K9 Supervisor at Protective Force International explained. “We work all around the city, different agencies, Metro, CCSD and I love it.”

The new dogs are Paco and Kata, who are explosive detection and tracking dogs, and Riggs, who is a narcotic detection dog.

The K9s and their handlers go through about a month of training, and they will continue training two to three times a week every week for the rest of their career.

The requests for K9s for security are growing so fast that Lt. Randall Caldwell, the K9 Manager at Protective Force International, said they get calls all the time.

“We get requests for conventions, we get requests for casinos, we get requests for apartment complexes and shopping centers. Every month we get new stuff,” he explained.

They currently have 13 K9s in the mix including the three new ones. Most of those dogs were out in force during Super Bowl 58.

Now those dogs are ready to protect more large-scale events that come to Las Vegas. They also hope to incorporate the dogs in protecting houses of worship, private schools, and more area conventions.

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