More than three dozen police K-9 teams from South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina took part in the U.S. Police Canine Association's annual spring canine detection trials in Aiken.

The Savannah River Site Canine Program along with the SRS Law Enforcement Department, Aiken County Sheriff's Office, Aiken Department of Public Safety and North Augusta Department of Public Safety teamed up to host the training, according to a March 21 news release.

“We have helped host this event with local law enforcement for over 20 years,” Norris Bunch, canine security services contractor supervisor at Canberra-SRS, said in the release. "During certification trials, each team is held to a measured level of proficiency that must be maintained for certification, which is attained through proper training and demonstration through various testing events.”

In total, 41 canine law enforcement teams took part in the trials held at the Savannah River Site, the release stated.

The U.S. Police Canine Association put on training and certification for detecting explosives. For the first time, a North Carolina cadaver dog team took part in the program, according to the release. 

Bunch noted, after the teams receive their certifications, they go through training and are retested annually to make sure "they maintain proper fundamentals of training and technique," the release reported.

The SRS Canine Program has been honored with a number of awards, both locally and nationally, and has been asked to assist various agencies, the release said.

“We train constantly at SRS to ensure that our working dogs are able to provide critical support to our security mission at the site," Bunch added, according to the release. "As part of that training, we conduct internal testing that is based on U.S. Police Canine Association standards and certification methodology. As a result, we have a very robust canine program that is fully capable of providing explosives and narcotics detection support at any time.”