The Worthington Police K-9 Unit consists of two canines. One is a United States Police Canine Association certified Belgian Malinios named Laika, whose handler is Officer Randy Liepold and is assisted by K-9 program supervisor, Jason Beckmann. Laika was born on May 6, 2003 in the Netherlands. She started working for the Worthington Police Department on April 5, 2004.

The other K-9 is a United States Police Canine Association certified German Shepherd named Thor who started working with the Worthington Police Department in 2009. Thor's handler is Officer Brett Wiltrout. Thor is from Slovakia and completed the Saint Paul Police K-9 class with Officer Wiltrout in 2009. K-9 Thor was awarded Region 12's Top Rookie Dog in July of 2010.

Both dogs are trained in all aspects of criminal apprehension, building searches, area searches and narcotics detection. They are also skilled in tracking suspects or lost individuals.

The purpose of the Worthington K-9 Unit is to provide a superior sense of smell, hearing, and potential aggressiveness as a valuable supplement to law enforcement man-power, which aids in crime prevention and control. Public demonstrations are given at many times for any organization requesting the service. The K-9 Unit also conducts locker sniffs in area schools and is available to any area law enforcement agencies requesting any of the above listed K-9 services.

K-9 Patrol Car

The patrol car used by the K-9 Unit is a standard police car modified for transporting our dog. Most noticeably, it has a platform in the rear seat specifically designed for the dog, and electric doors that may be opened remotely by the handler. The handler often has to leave his dog in the car while attending to other business and will leave the car running with the air conditioner on. One of the special features include windows that automatically go down when the temperature in the interior of the car gets too high. The car will also activate the lights and siren and send a signal to the K-9 officer's pager warning him of the problem.