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| Rio |
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| Odin |
Members of the city council approved the purchase of two German Shepherds for the department, along with essential equipment for the new 'officers,' training and certifications for the police department. The $25,200 expense for the new canines was funded in part by donations to the Westland Police Community Partnership Foundation, donations from community organizations and Westland Police Drug Forfeiture Funds. Future training costs of $1700 annually will be funded through the police operating budget.
The department has retired both of the police K9 Unit dogs, during the past two years, explained Police Chief Jeff Jedrusik during the Oct. 5 meeting of the city council.
“K9s Hemi and Narco served the City of Westland well,” Jedrusik said. “We are now ready to move into the next generation of Police K9 Service.”
Ofc. Andrew Teschendorf and Ofc. Derek Trosper were selected to become the new K9 handlers in the department working with new K-9 officers Odin and Rio.
The Westland Police Department has partnered with The K9 Academy Training located in Taylor for the past 25 years, officials said and added that The K9 Academy is one of the most highly respected Police K9 Training centers in the State of Michigan.
The dogs will be purchased, trained and certified through the program which will begin this month.
Both officers will be required to complete a 4-month training academy with their canine partners and the team will be required to pass an extensive certification course as part of this training. The K9 team will continue weekly training to maintain their skills consisting of life-like scenarios which officers may come across while on patrol, officials said.
