MISSION: Our Mission is to find and aid people in distress and to assist law enforcement agencies with evidence searches.
Our Goal is to provide trailing, air scent and specialty search dog teams trained for effective and efficient canine search in support of the King County Sheriff’s Office for search operations in the following areas:
- Lost person searches in wilderness and rural settings.
- Locating missing at-risk individuals in urban and suburban environments.
- Locating deceased subjects.
- Assist law enforcement evidence searches.
- Identifying the location of drowning victims.
- Locating victims in case of fire or natural disasters.
- Assist law enforcement with missing person and criminal cold cases.
KCSD complements and extends police K9 resources but our training and certifications focus on searching for missing humans so we DO NOT:
- Chase bad people
- Look for drugs
- Look for bombs
- Look for lost or missing pets
KCSD is part of the King County Search and Rescue Association and depending on the objectives of the mission, we work closely with the other KSARA units: Seattle Mountain Rescue, Ski Patrol Rescue Team, Pacific Northwest Trackers, Explorer Search and Rescue, 4×4 Search and rescue, Northwest Horseback SAR and the King County Incident Support Team. When the need arises we also work with other search and rescue groups and law enforcement agencies throughout the State of Washington. In addition to the specialized skills training required by each discipline, the members of all KCSARA units undergo a rigorous, standardized core competency training program developed by the Washington State SAR Coordinators Association. This assures that KCSARA units can function effectively with each other and with other search and rescue teams from around the State.
We enjoy what we do and welcome you to learn more by browsing our website to discover more details on our different search disciplines (airscent, trailing and human remains detection) as well to find out more about KCSD and its members. We also hope you will visit the YOU can help section to learn how to stay safe in the wilderness and what you can do to help our mission.