LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bomb detecting police dogs are training in Louisville with help from the city’s ATF Field Division. Over 30 local, state and federal teams are participating in the three-day training and evaluation session.

What You Need To Know

  • K9 bomb detection teams are training in Louisville

  • The training is being put on by the city’s ATF Filed Division

  • More than 30 teams are participating, including an officer from the Louisville Metro Police Department

  • Several of the teams will work this year’s Kentucky Derby

John Nokes, ATF Louisville’s Special Agent In Charge, said the city is one of ten locations the agency trains at. Louisville Metro Police Department is taking part in the training.

Officer Jeremiah Nimmo and his partner Rosco believes training sessions allow different agencies to share their first-hand knowledge of situations they see back home. 

“What you’re seeing here is not just an officer and their dog, you’re seeing years, weeks, months of training,” Nimmo said. 

The valuable hands-on experience was offered just weeks before the city’s largest event, the Kentucky Derby. The ATF said several of the teams participating in the training will work during the Derby. 

“It’s overwhelming for me to go to the Derby right with all the people there. It’s especially overwhelming for the canines. So again, it’s good to expose them to more dogs, more people around, that sort of thing. And again, we’re just trying to make it as realistic as we can,” Nokes said. 

Adding to that realism, the dogs will detect homemade explosives, identical to ones found following the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans. 

“So that way we’re making sure these canine teams are as prepared as they can possibly be for Derby and other events,” Nokes said. 

Keeping their skills sharp to prevent the unthinkable.

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