As a result, the police chief established a task force, comprised of officers from all ranks and units, to examine the issue of deadly force. He accepted the recommendation of the K-9 unit to increase the available number of teams and to train the handlers and dogs to be an alternative to use of deadly force, thereby expanding the dogs' previous responsibilities for conducting building and area searches to find evidence, narcotics, and explosives. The unit was doubled to include 44 K-9 teams with 40 officer handlers and four sergeant handlers. In the ensuing years, people armed with all types of nontraditional weapons have been taken down by dogs and many incidents have been resolved without the dog biting the suspect. In addition to handling difficult suspects, dogs, particularly bloodhounds, can provide invaluable assistance in identifying evidence, determining the direction of travel, and locating witnesses along a path of travel.