Canine Tactical Operations & Consulting (K9TacOps) is owned and operated by Brad Smith from the West Covina Police Department in Southern California.  Mr. Smith has been in law enforcement since 1981.  He has over 20 years of experience as a K9 handler, mentor and trainer and 18 years as a SWAT dog handler.  During this time Mr. Smith has revolutionized K9 patrol tactics and K9 SWAT deployment.  He has been referred to as the “Godfather of K9 SWAT Operations.” 

K9TacOps provides consulting services to attorney’s, City Managers, Administrators and Law Enforcement agencies on K9 related issues such as: dog and handler selection, oral boards, training, report writing, policy, case law, use of force, deployment tactics for K9 patrol deployments and K9 SWAT operations.  

K9TacOps has provided K9 consulting services to attorneys throughout the United States, Canada and Brazil.  Attorneys depend on K9TacOps to provide exceptional expert witness testimony in criminal and civil cases regarding K9 patrol deployments and K9 SWAT operations. 
 
Since 2000 Mr. Smith has been Canine Chairman for National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) and Subject Matter Expert for California Association of Tactical Officers (CATO).  As Canine Chairman for NTOA, Mr. Smith wrote the Recommended Training Standards for K9’s that deploy with SWAT. 

Mr. Smith was on the California Police Officers Standards and Training (POST) K9 SWAT committee and was instrumental in writing the Recommended Operational Guideline for K9’s that deploy with SWAT.  He is on the training staff for Utah POST for SWAT dogs and is a Certifying Official for National Police Canine Association (NPCA).  Mr. Smith also sat on the Safety Guidelines committee which re-wrote and updated the safety guidelines for classes certified by POST.

Mr. Smith is a graduate of California POST Master Instructor Development Program, Class 5, where he designed and implemented SKIDDS; the first and only POST approved K9 SWAT School in the state of California.  SKIDDS has been certified in several other states as well. 

Mr. Smith is a contributing editor for Police K9 Magazine.  He has published numerous articles on K9 SWAT Deployment, case law updates and K9 Use of Force issues and training tips in the following magazines:  Tactical Edge, Tactical Response, Police K9 Magazine, Law & Order, Illinois Tactical Officer Association, Law Officer Magazine, Wisconsin Law Officer Canine Handler Association, Dog Sport, C.A.T.O. and Police Magazine. 

Mr. Smith has competed internationally as well as regionally in numerous police canine competitions.  He has won over 60 awards including 6 Grand Championships, 4 Reserve Grand Championships and 4 Top Agencies. [read more on Brad Smith]