France hires NYPD K-9s to help secure Paris Olympics

NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — The NYPD K-9 unit has been hired by France to help beef up security at the 2024 Paris Olympics, police said.

K-9 assets—both canines and handlers—were sent to the City of Light for two weeks at the request of the French government ahead of Paris’ first Summer Olympics in a century.

"Today’s @Olympics Opening Ceremony brings the world’s greatest athletes together in Paris," NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism Rebecca Weiner wrote on X.

"We are proud of our Counterterrorism Division canines Gunner & Davie and their human partners, who are on scene to assist in securing the event," Weiner continued. She included photos of the assets in front of the Eiffel Tower and inside official Olympic stadiums.

The Olympic opening ceremony on Friday was threatened by a series of coordinated "malicious acts" that upended high-speed train lines, though no injuries were reported. The planned events on the River Seine went on without an obvious hitch as Olympic teams paraded in boats down the waterway.

The added security provided by the specialized NYPD unit was of no cost to New York City, an NYPD spokesperson said.

Assets of the K-9 unit have been in Paris since July 15 at the latest, when Weiner said that "In the lead up to the Opening Ceremony, several of our counterterrorism K-9 units are assisting with security sweeps."

Protecting the Olympics is an "international effort," Weiner said, which was aided by the explosive-sniffing skills of the NYPD K-9 unit.

The canines are trained to detect explosives by sniffing out raw ingredients such as ammonium nitrate or TNT, longtime U.S. Navy SEAL canine trainer Christopher Cappa told Gothamist .

Former commanding officer of the NYPD transit bureau canine unit John Pappas told Gothamist that sending some of the unit’s 145 canines internationally was rare, it isn’t unprecedented. For example, NYPD canines and handlers previously aided rescue operations in Haiti after an earthquake.

The NYPD did not confirm how many assets were sent to Paris, nor the cost of the added security for the French government.