Did you know TSA’s Canine Training Center (CTC) also trains canines deployed by local and state law enforcement teams in our airports and mass transit locations?
The TSA CTC partners with over 100 local and state law enforcement agencies across the country, training several explosives detection canines for our partners each year.
Although the specific location and number of teams assigned to each location is kept quiet for security purposes, if you’ve seen a canine team from your local or state law enforcement agency at a major sporting event, chances are that team was trained by TSA’s CTC.
The CTC offers two handler courses: explosives detection and passenger screening. Both courses require an unparalleled level of dedication and determination from everyone involved.
In Florida, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Deputy Joseph Quintana and his canine partner Keji graduated from the CTC’s explosives detection course last December. “It was a great experience overall but a long time to be away from family,” Quintana said.
The Explosives Detection Canine course spans 11 weeks for the handler and six weeks of pre-training for the canine, shaping desired detection behaviors, developing a foundation for the handler to build on, and helping them adapt to the various environments where they will be training and working.
Handlers in the Passenger Screening Canine course spend 16 weeks in training and the canines are on-site for eight weeks of pre-training, again, developing desired behaviors and laying the foundation to prepare for the complex screening training.
These teams are nothing to bark at. They are highly trained and extremely skilled in what they do to protect the public.
How did the partnerships begin?
In 1972, President Nixon mandated the fielding of additional explosives detection canines to our country’s largest airports following an incident at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
New York City Police (NYPD) Officer Neil Monaco and Canine Brandy, a part of the department’s Explosive Detection Canine Team, were conducting a demonstration for lawmakers at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport when a bomb threat was received by Trans World Airlines (TWA). The caller stated an explosive device was onboard a TWA aircraft. At the time of the call, TWA flight 7 was already airborne and the pilots were advised to return to JFK.
Officer Monaco and Brandy deployed to the aircraft after the passengers were evacuated and, using their training and working methodically, Monaco and Brandy successfully located the explosive device in the cockpit a scant 12 minutes prior to detonation, making them the very first canine team to locate an explosive device on a commercial aircraft.
Canine Brandy and Officer Monaco went on to discover several more explosive devices in their career and their successes highlighted canine capabilities and led to the creation of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Canine Program, later becoming the National Explosive Detection Canine Team Program (NEDCTP).
With the President’s mandate and support from Congress, the FAA began pairing airport-based law enforcement officers with conventional explosive detection canines to identify explosives in aviation environments, such as aircraft, terminals, vehicles and baggage, by training handlers and canines with the Department of Defense.
Following the September 11 attacks, and the creation of TSA, the NEDCTP was transferred to TSA and the CTC was born.
In the ensuing years, TSA expanded the law enforcement teams to other modes of transportation, such as mass transit – rail and buses.
Along with this transition, NEDCTP added the U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Law Enforcement Canine Teams and Federal Protective Service as they were transitioned into the Department of Homeland Security.
What do our partners say about their CTC experience?
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office has partnered with TSA’s CTC since its birth.
“My experience was excellent,” said Sergeant Julio Nolasco. “It felt as if I went to Canine university. The instructors were very knowledgeable and most importantly, willing to teach.”
While the canines are being trained to seek and detect explosives, their human handlers are being trained on how to care for their furry partners.
The training every team receives at the CTC is thorough, to say the least. “During a performance check, I was asked to do a wellness check and call out all the body parts,” said Quintana.
When asked how his partner behaved on the flight home from the CTC, Quintana said, “Kejsi sat between my legs and had no issues. She knew she was coming to South Beach and was as excited as I was to come home and start working.”
“I highly recommend it,” Nolasco said of his CTC experience. “Great Canine training.”
From its predecessors in 1972 to today’s CTC, TSA’s Canine training program is well respected and in high demand by law enforcement agencies across the country.
Can’t get enough of TSA canines? Fetch the 2025 TSA Cutest Canine Calendar here.
By Michele Robbins, TSA Strategic Communications & Public Affairs