The Murrieta Police Department wants the public to know that it’s doing everything possible to keep its K9s safe during the recent heatwave. The department equipped its K9 vehicles with specially designed equipment to keep its K9s safe in the harshest of weather conditions.
Each K9 vehicle is equipped with tinted windows and a temperature monitoring system that includes temperature sensors for the kennel portion of the vehicle, an in-car display, and a belt pager. The in-car display allows officers to monitor the temperature while they are driving around. The belt pager allows officers to monitor the temperature inside the vehicle when they are away from the vehicle.
Should the vehicle have a malfunction and the temperature rise above a predetermined mark, the back windows will roll down and a cooling fan will automatically come on to cool the K9 and keep the air circulating.
To help bring attention to the heat emergency in the vehicle, the lights will flash and the horn will sound. The handler is also notified of the issue via a belt pager so they can immediately respond and fix the problem.
