The Police Department Canine Unit is made up of 6 Apprehension and 1 Narcotic dog handler teams.

The Manteca Canine Unit is the second oldest canine unit in San Joaquin County, second only to Stockton PD. Training is conducted "in house" and overseen by a retired MPD K9 Sergeant. The teams train every week to maintain an extraordinarily high level of abilities.

The Apprehension dogs are trained in five phases: Obedience, Agility, Search, Protection and Tracking. As society has dictated the need and use for police canines, it has also dictated the personalities of dogs needed. No longer used are the aggressive and intimidating dogs, which were used exclusively for handler protection and locating hidden suspects. Manteca subscribes to the philosophy of tactical and useful tools within the Canine Unit, being used only when called upon to minimize the threat to an officer’s or citizen’s life.

Manteca Police Apprehension Canines can be used for situations such as:

• Searching a building for a hidden suspect
• Searching an open area for a hidden suspect
• Handler protection
• Citizen Protection
• Holding a suspect until they can be safely taken into custody
• Tracking a fleeing suspect
• Crowd control

Manteca Police Narcotics Canines are trained in the scent detection of:

• Methamphetamine
• Heroin
• Cocaine
• Opium Products
• Marijuana