National Night Out: King's Grant Kids Learn to Fight Crime

Tuesday night, August 6, cities across North Carolina celebrated National Night Out 2013. The evening annual event is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch Inc. and held in neighborhoods throughout the country in cooperation with law enforcement agencies.

On the north end of Fayetteville the King's Grant community met on the golf course where members from the Fayetteville Police Department and fire department interacted with the youth. Stations were set up to teach the kids about self-defense, when to call 9-1-1, and fingerprinting techniques. The kids seemed to most enjoy an appearance from service trained dogs Max and Tessa of the K-9 Unit.

The youth interacted with Sgt. Tracy Campbell, the force's K-9 Unit team supervisor. Sgt. Campbell demonstrated the dog's capabilities by having an older boy hide a ball on a tether hundreds of feet away in a bunch of bushes. Using his keen sense of smell, Max launched on command running straight toward the bushes as his handler and a handful of kids followed close behind running down the golf course where he victoriously uncovered the hidden yellow ball.

Sgt. Campbell said his favorite part of the job is working around the kids and sharing his dogs with the community. Max is his fifth service dog that he has trained.

K-9 teams are trained in narcotics detection, tracking and control. Some of their other duties include conducting building intrusion searches, searching for illegal narcotics and/or contraband, conducting suspect and/or evidence searches, conducting preventative burglary and robbery patrols. K-9 officers and their partners also visit schools, clubs and businesses to provide information and demonstrations about the K-9 Unit.

"This was the best night, ever," exclaimed Marianna, an area fifth grader. "I loved learning about the police dogs. And eating hot dogs too."