SWAT Team at School

The SWAT team was at K's and L's school on Friday. The reason? It was a demonstration by the Sheriff's office. It was truly wonderful. One of our dear friends flies the helicopter for the Sheriff's office and he organized this field day for the preschool and elementary school (ah, the benefits of a small school!). There were squad cars, a SWAT team truck, the helicopter, and the K-9 unit was on hand. The kids got to see everything up close and learn about the various jobs held by the men and women in green.

We got to watch the helicopter land and take off (from a safe distance) and we all got a turn petting one of the K-9 dogs. She was the biggest baby but she took her job very seriously. The SWAT team showed us how they approach a building when there could be suspects inside (and yes, they used real guns).

The highlight for me was the K-9 demonstration. We got to see how a dog tracks down a bad guy and what happens when said bad guy attacks his handler. The dogs have exactly one job: to please their master. So whatever the master says, the dog does. And when the master is in danger, no words are needed; the dog attacks without being commanded to do so. It really was cool. What I didn't know was that the dogs go home with their handlers every day and live with them even after they are retired. I thought that was really neat. I think the whole day was just as much fun for the adults as it was for the kids!