California Adds Six New CHP Canine Teams to Public Safety Ranks

Saratoga, California — Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday announced the graduation of six new California Highway Patrol canine teams, including the agency's first-ever Springer Spaniel.

The six teams bring skills in patrol, narcotics detection and explosives detection. They join a CHP canine force that now totals 54 teams deployed across California, according to the governor's office.

CHP said its narcotics-detection canine teams conducted nearly 1,700 enforcement searches in 2025, seizing more than 21,170 pounds of illegal narcotics and more than $12.2 million in illicit currency. Explosives-detection teams conducted more than 7,000 searches the same year.

The new teams can be deployed to support public safety operations anywhere in the state, from major traffic corridors to large public events.

Saratoga, in Santa Clara County at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains, is home to about 31,000 residents whose commutes on State Route 85 and Interstate 280 fall within CHP's regional patrol footprint.

Sources:

https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/07/10/paws-on-patrol-governor-newsom-announces-six-newly-graduated-k-9-teams-to-join-chp/