In this photograph, taken in 1978, a young boy is fascinated by a mounted New York (NY) Police Department officer’s horse, and an NYPD motorcycle officer shares his enthusiasm.

This trophy was given to the champions of a police marksmanship competition held in July 1896.

K9s and their handlers perform a variety of important tasks, including searching for drugs, explosives, and missing persons, searching for crime scene evidence and even taking down criminals.

From October 2-22, 2002, two individuals orchestrated a series of shootings in Washington DC, Maryland and, Virginia, which resulted in the deaths of 10 people and left three critically injured. They became known as the Beltway Snipers.

Law enforcement agencies use man’s best friend to assist in a variety of tasks; to not only make their jobs easier but to make them safer. Many of those tasks require a honed set of skills taught by professional dog trainers, which take months to master.