Nothing has the presence of a large German Shepherd Dog to control crowds....
Other breeds can do the business in the sport arena but GSDs and Mals perform in real life, where finesse is sometimes sacrificed for results...
Criminals will tell you everytime...

David, Dogs, for the most part, are task specific. Over the years humans have bred dogs to meet their needs and desires ( be it working ability or pet quality) Getting into this mess of what dog can do what tasks better is asinine. Dogs, like people are individuals in themselves. Yes you will find an example in any breed that excells over their brethren and anomolies are not uncommon.
A good dog trainer can take an exceptional example of any breed and train it to do what more conventional breeds are historically used for. Its been done over and over. Obviously different breeds have characteristics within them to excell in their intended purpose. Basically its apples to oranges here. Within the same breed there are fast dogs and slow ones. Some will jump higher than others and some bite harder. The individual dogs' character and the level of training dictates how the dog is going to perform. You can have the best trainer in the world but if he has quality pedigree crapple to work with you will have a substandard animal for the task in which he is being trained for.
I agree that the APBT can pull more weight than a GSD or MAL but that is the nature of this beast. Short powerfull legs and huge shoulders ensure that trait. When it comes to speed, I say put your dog on radar. Mine PSD runs 33 mph. Long limbs and flexible spine are the main reasons.
When it comes to fighting. Im sure youve heard the term...."Its not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog". My retired PSD was only 72 lbs but handlers feared him because of his fight drive. I first hand saw a real bad guy put a wippin on him and he stepped up to the task tenfold. He would look the bad guy in the eye while on the bite as if to say "LETS GO!". I also have seen big GSD patrol dogs who did well in training abandon a real fight on the street with the slightest elevation in resistance.
What Im getting at is, I agree that the" my dog is better than yours" debate is counterproductive. Stating the obvious differences/qualities of one breed over another is also a time waster. Blanket statements spouted as gospel is just ignorant.

Amen

Gotta disagree with you joe. I have numerous photos of real bad guys bitten by my GSD as well as other officers patrol dogs. My last apprehension resulted in the perp having to be hospitalized under a trauma alert. His thorasic cavity was punctured and his pectoral muscles were hanging out. I am not proud of this, it is only an example of what traditional police dogs are capable of. I have never heard of any K9 handler complain that his dog bites too hard. Accordingly, I have never seen a case where a hard biting dog is more apt to get his handler and department sued because of the dogs bite strength.

I personally like the APBT. The problem is that it has a bad reputation in this country due to the Yahoo's out there who cannot control a vicious animal that they have created through abuse. To use one for police work would be a trial in perception. The public has been spoon fed alot of hooror stories about the breed and to pull one out of a police car to catch a bad guy is asking for attention which is no fault of the dog.

The main reason the dogs used most commonly today excell is because of their breeding, availability and ease of training. They do everything well as a whole and are not one dimensional (not saying the APBT is). Socially they are accepted because of their discriminating demeanor as well as their looks and approachability.

I agree. The dogs get a bad rap as a result of ignorant, stupid, abusive owners. This goes for the GSD as well as the APBT, Rotties, and Dobies.

I'm the owner of a pit/chow mix and I'm getting ready to have her certified in therapy work and hopefully get her into narcotics detection, too. I haven't looked into the narc detection that much, but if I can get my DEA license, I'll go for it!

One of the problems with using the Pit bull for K9 work is supply. There is not a demand for the pit bull, to be used as a patrol dog because the standard dog does it so well.

Along with its reputation and that not alot of Pit bull dogs are breed for this type work. I have no doubt that the pit could do it, but there are a lot of situations that you would have to train away like barking dogs or dogs running by, it would be hard for the pit to resist a fight. And we have another head line, " Police K9 kills citizens Chilluanua, Home owner's sueing".

I know this is an old post. But I found it amusing.

Grantsville, Utah is a relatively small town. Located about 40 minutes west of Salt Lake City.
Located between Salt Lake City and Wendover, Nevada on Highway 138.
Population: 3500 Grantsville is approximately 5 square miles, surrounded by mountains, farmers fields and the Great Salt Lake

The whole department is the SWAT Team.

LOL!

I think that is true with their H.S. football team too. They were the basket ball team. It was a bit weird seeing a bunch of 350 lb linemen running up and down the court. These boys were under 6'0 and weighed a ton.