By Heidi Dahms Foster
[Area K9 teams continue to do a stellar job as patrol and drug interception partners for local law enforcement.]
Prescott Valley Police Department
The Prescott Valley K9 team currently consists of Sgt. Keven O’Hagan and Cowboy, a Malinois; Officer Cameron Kinsey and Chewy, Officer Justin Ellison and Kato, and Officer Tanner Presson with the department’s new K9, shepherd/Malinois mix “Odin.”
Officer Ellison has been in the process of becoming a National Police Canine Association certified trainer. With the help of a certified officer from the Phoenix area, Officer Ellison along with Officer Presson and K9 Odin were both able to finish their certifications together. All Prescott Valley K9 training can now be done in house. Prior K9 officer teams had to attend a 14-week academy out of town, which is expensive for the department and hard on the officers’ families, said Sgt. O’Hagan.
Odin is now a dual-certified patrol/narcotics dog, and Sgt. O’Hagan said the team is working very well together. The department purchased Odin from High Drive K9 in South Carolina, the same vendor as O’Hagan’s Cowboy. Odin was purchased for the department by an anonymous donor who has generously provided 16 dogs for law enforcement agencies in Yavapai County.
Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
Yavapai County K9s are most involved in drug interdiction on major interstates in Northern Arizona. The Department currently consists of Officer Travis Hartman with shepherd Haddie, Gilbert Wakefield with Malinois Skye, Officer Nate Camacho with Malinois Loki, the newest K9, and Jail Facilities dogs Max and Jett, handled by Officers Garrett Russell and Sgt. Cameron Leuschner.
Max was previously a narcotics dog for YCSO, age and the constant physical activity on the interstate, jumping in and out of patrol vehicles, was hard on him. The jail needed another dog, so he transitioned to that facility.
Loki is the agency’s newest K9, joining in February 2023. Loki made his first bust on June 20, detecting more than two pounds of cocaine, 1,000 Adderall pills, and a handgun.
Sgt. Ethan Stover said the department helped out with the recent Arizona Law Enforcement Canine Association training and demo in Prescott Valley by running a training scenario dealing with seizure of large amounts of narcotics.
“We ran the scenario for all units to go through during the week,” Stover said. “A lot of the units don’t work the highways. It’s a very different game working city streets and small personal use of drugs than there is working loads going across the state or the country. We didn’t participate in the ALECA demo because it’s not as exciting for people to see. Our dogs are not dual purpose, they just sniff around a vehicle and sit (if they smell drugs),” Stover said with a chuckle. Their work may not be exciting to watch, but the amounts of narcotics they take off the interstates is mind-boggling.
In July, the YCSO K9 unit accepted two awards at the Arizona High Intensity Trafficking Area 2023 Conference in Flagstaff. The first was for Outstanding Interdiction Effort of the Year for the Unit for their work in intercepting dangerous narcotics on area interstates. Sergeants Cody Kruse and Ethan Stover, Deputies Nate Camacho and Travis Hartman and Volunteer Don Trusty accepted the award. In calendar year 2022, the Unit seized more than 206 lbs. of fentanyl, more than 162 lbs. of methamphetamine, more than 25 lbs. of cocaine, more than 932 lbs. of marijuana, more than five lbs. of psilocybin and 1,418 psilocybin edibles.
Deputy Travis Hartman received the Outstanding Criminal Interdictor of the Year for his work with K-9 Haddie. For the year 2022, Deputy Hartman confiscated 544,000 fentanyl pills, nearly 38 lbs. of Methamphetamine and 297 lbs. of marijuana. In one 2022 seizure on I-17 near Cordes Lakes in Yavapai County, Deputy Hartman, through a roadside interview and seeing clues of criminal behavior, was able to locate 100,000 fentanyl pills located in a vehicle.
This year, one of the largest finds for YCSO K9s happened in March, when K9 Haddie alerted to 92,000 fentanyl pills in a vehicle near Camp Verde.
ALECA Stages Annual Trainings, Popular Demo
The Arizona Law Enforcement Canine Association, hosted by Prescott Valley Police Department, completed four days of intensive training in mid-July, culminating in its popular public demonstration at Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.
Beginning on July 17, 75 teams from all over the state arrived in Prescott Valley to test for certification, gain experience, and attend seminars. Prescott Valley K9 Sgt. Keven O’Hagan said this year’s focus was tactical leadership and tracking. Teams also received training on trauma first aid for the dogs, among other subjects.
The July 18 demo included introductions of local K9 teams from Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, Prescott, and Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, as well as other statewide agencies. Teams demonstrated narrated obedience and realistic scenarios showing the K9 teams’ skills in fighting crime. Popular parts of the event were a scenario in which a K9 detected and alerted to a “bomb,” a rough and tough game of “musical chairs,” with the winner being the last decoy standing, and a demo of K9s showing off their apprehension skills when released by their handlers.
The ALECA training and demo are made possible free of charge to member law enforcement agencies partly by the sale of merchandise such as t-shirts, hats, dog toys and other products at the event, and by donations from supporters.
ALECA also invites the public to attend the Desert Dog Police K9 Trials and Public Safety Expo scheduled for October 21-22, 2023 at WestWorld in Scottsdale. More than 70 K9 teams will show off what it takes to be a canine in active duty during the two-day competition.
Teams are tested in real-life scenarios including Handler Protection, Apprehensions, Narcotic and Explosives Detection, Tactical Obedience and Agility.
The family-friendly event will include more than 150 vendors for food, discovering the latest in public safety tactics including interactive displays and demonstrations from SWAT, aviation teams, discovering the most recent advances in public safety vehicles and much more.
Find out more about this fall event at: alecapolicek9.com.
To watch a video of the 2023 ALECA demonstration, visit Facebook.com/PVPDK9
Watch future issues of Prescott Dog for more updates on local K9 Units.
