FORT DRUM — The post Tuesday saw the activation of a police unit that had been untapped for more than 30 years and will help with post security and oversee a new military dog unit.

The 227th Military Police Detachment is the first unit to become activated on post since the 3rd Battalion, 85th Mountain Infantry Regiment, better known as the Warrior Transition Unit, in 2007. The detachment falls under the 91st Military Police Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade.

Capt. Stephanie E. Melton, the detachment’s commander, said the activation was a sign of growth within the Army’s military police corps. “We’re really going back to our roots of military police,” she said. “We’re really increasing our ability to provide that policing element to the Army and to our military community.”

The unit contains about 65 soldiers, including about 20 handlers and their dogs in the detachment’s military police dog unit. Capt. Melton said the assorted breeds of dogs and their handlers, who often work in bomb and narcotics detection, are among the most deployed in the Army.

She said the military has found cost savings in linking military police dog units to military police detachments, along with better training opportunities. She said she was not aware of any scheduled deployments in the unit’s future.

In the weeks leading up to the activation, Capt. Melton said, the unit’s military police dogs had been used for four different presidential and vice presidential campaign appearances, which also included work at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

The unit, nicknamed the Centurions, had been deactivated since 1979.

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