History
The Cherry Hill Police Canine Unit has a history of honorable and distinguished service to the residents of Cherry Hill. The canine unit began its service in 1980 when the department first brought canines onto the force. Since then the need for police canines has changed and so has the unit. When canines first came to the Cherry Hill Police they helped solve crimes and assisted in catching criminals. Today the highly trained canine teams of the Cherry Hill Police Department perform more tasks then ever.

Canine Teams
Currently, the Cherry Hill Police Department has five canine teams working on the street. The following are the department's narcotics detection teams:

• Sergeant J. Kelly and K-9 Nero
• Police Officer C. Knoedler and K-9 Sem
• Police Officer C. Wernig and K-9 Mika
• Police Officer J. Ostermueller and K-9 Arco

Police Officer P. Moran and K-9 Dante are the departments explosive detection canine team.

Benefits of Scent Detection
Having canines trained in scent detection is something the Cherry Hill Police added recently and has proven to be effective. The narcotics detection teams have located drugs that officers may have never found leading to several arrests and countless amounts of drugs removed from the street. The explosive detection team works to keep the residents of Cherry Hill safe at large gatherings and aids in clearing suspicious situations. All five teams are cross trained in patrol work and scent detection. Some patrol duties include tracking, building searches, and article searches.

In today's world the Cherry Hill Police Department canine teams are more valuable then ever. They are trained to protect and aide the officers and residents of Cherry Hill. Each canine team receives over six months of training at the Philadelphia Police Department  Canine Academy and attends monthly and yearly in-services to sharpen their skills. Due to their hard work and dedication, Cherry Hill has some of the finest canine teams in the area.