K-9 Unit

Marysville Police K-9’s will lay down their lives for a few kind words and a pat on the head.

The Marysville K-9 Unit was established in 2002 through generous community donations that led to the purchase of two German Shepherds - Radar and Shadow. Later donations allowed the purchase of Marysville’s first narcotics-detecting K-9, Brody. All three original K-9s have now retired. In 2016, the K-9 Unit was able to purchase K-9 Steele and K-9 Copper through federal grants.

Current K-9 Unit

K-9 Copper & Officer Derek Oates

Officer Derek Oates has served in the Marysville Police Department since 2001. His previous assignments have included Patrol, FTO, SWAT, Firearms Instructor, and Peer Support.

He is currently assigned to the K-9 Unit as the handler for Copper. Copper was born July 25, 2015, and has been working for Marysville PD since Sept. 2016.

Officer Oates holds a B.A. in Biblical Studies, Youth and Family Ministry with emphasis in Counseling from Trinity Lutheran College. Copper enjoys catching bad guys and finding drugs.

K9 Copper and Officer Oates standing outside


K-9 Steele & Officer Brad Smith

Officer Brad Smith has served the Marysville Police Department since 2009. In his 20+ years of law enforcement experience, he has previously worked in Patrol and the NITE/Pro Act Unit.

He is currently assigned to the K-9 Unit as the handler for Steele, a Belgian Malinois. Steele was born on February 14, 2015, and has been working for Marysville PD since 2016.

Officer Smith is a Master Handler in Narcotic Detection through the Washington State Police Canine Association. He is also a Certifying Official for both the Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) Narcotic Detection and the Pacific Northwest Police Detection Dog Association.

K9 Steele sits in front of a patrol car

Dual Purpose K-9’s

In 2016, the Marysville Police K-9 Unit changed from single purpose K-9’s to dual purpose with the additions of K-9 Steele and K-9 Copper. For the first time in unit’s history, the K-9’s were trained in Patrol work and Narcotic Detection. Having Dual Purpose K-9s allows for more opportunities for deployments, thus increasing our opportunities to capture suspects and remove narcotics from the streets.

When the K-9’s are doing their patrol duties, their primary job is to locate and apprehend suspects or people involved in criminal activity, and to help officers locate evidence. Additionally, the K-9’s can also provide physical and psychological protection to officers when necessary and practical.

While the patrol duty of the K-9 is typically used for most felony-related crimes, such as robbery, burglary, assaults and occasionally for domestic violence crimes. While doing their patrol duties, their primary function is to locate fleeing or barricaded suspects, the dog can also help search for missing people but only under extreme circumstances.

When the K-9’s are doing Narcotic Detection, their duty is to locate the odor of narcotics in various locations, such as cars or buildings. The use of Narcotics Detection K-9 is used to gain probable cause for search warrants or to help locate narcotics during the service of a search warrant. The dogs are typically deployed when officers stop vehicles and believe that narcotics may be present.

Retired K-9’s

K-9 RadarPatrol
K-9 ShadowPatrol
K-9 BrodyNarcotic
K-9 HawkeyePatrol
K-9 KatyNarcotic
K-9 RangerPatrol