Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

DENVER – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering National Odor Recognition Testing, or NORT, to 30 local, state and federal explosive-detection canine teams from 21 agencies in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Ohio and Florida. 

• Who: ATF’s National Canine Division and local explosive-detection K-9 handlers
• What: National Odor Recognition Testing  
• Where: Boulder County Fairgrounds, 9595 Nelson Road, Longmont, CO, 80501
• When: Wednesday, Aug. 17, 9:30-10:30 a.m.

Please RSVP by noon, Aug. 16, to PIO Lisa Meiman at ATF’s Denver Field Division at 303-575-7611 or Lisa.Meiman@atf.gov. Media should plan to be on site by 9:15 a.m.

Participating agencies:

1. Adams County Sheriff’s Office, CO
2. Arvada Police Department, CO
3. ATF, CO
4. Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, CO
5. Buckley Air Force Base, CO
6. Colorado Springs PD, CO
7. Cincinnati PD, OH
8. Denver PD, CO
9. Denver Sheriff’s Department, CO
10. Federal Protective Service, CO
11. Federal Protective Service, FL
12. Golden PD, CO
13. Goshen Township PD, OH
14. Grand County Sheriff’s Office, CO
15. Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, CO
16. Laramie County Sheriff’s Department, WY
17. Montana Highway Patrol, MT
18. South Salt Lake City Fire Department, UT
19. Unified Fire Authority of Salt Lake County, UT
20. Utah Department of Public Safety/Utah Highway Patrol, UT
21. Westminster Police Department, CO

About National Odor Recognition Testing

National Odor Recognition Testing, or NORT, is a voluntary test to evaluate a canine team’s ability to detect 10 fundamental explosive odors. The test has been recognized by Congress as the benchmark proficiency standard for effective canine explosives detection. During a three-day training and evaluation session, explosive-detection canine teams at all levels of government use NORT to identify gaps in training aids, learn about inadvertent training aid contamination and practice odor detection in a professional training environment. NORT training also allows handlers to exchange information on trends and best practices with colleagues and ask questions of ATF canine and explosives subject matter experts. At the end of the training and practice session, teams can elect to perform the official NORT single-blind test administered by ATF.

ATF conducts about 12 NORT sessions a year around the county for about 500 explosive-detection canine teams. This is the 10th NORT since January. So far, 432 teams have completed the test in 2016. Since September 2005, 2,208 federal, state, local and military canine teams have participated in NORT training. 

About ATF’s National Canine Division

ATF’s National Canine Division, or NCD, trains explosives and accelerant detection canines for federal, state, local and international law enforcement and fire investigation agencies. ATF is a leading source of specially trained explosives- and accelerant-detection canine teams. Once trained, the canine teams are assigned to local, state and other federal law enforcement agencies, as well as select foreign countries. They regularly lend support to investigations and security efforts. For more information on ATF’s training of canine teams, see the attached fact sheet.

To learn more about ATF and its programs, go to www.atf.gov.

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About ATF

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a highly specialized agency within the Department of Justice whose main goal is preventing, interrupting and removing violent crime from American communities. ATF investigates and prosecutes crimes involving arson, explosives, alcohol and tobacco diversion and the illegal possession, use and trade of firearms. The Denver Field Division works with local, state and federal law enforcement and public safety organizations to combat violent crime in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Utah.  For more information about ATF, visit www.atf.gov.

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