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The Warsaw Police Department’s K-9 Unit was started in 1989, with the first K-9 being a 22-month-old German Shepherd named Jimmy. The K-9 Unit expanded in 2006, when WPD received a grant from the K-21 Foundation. Today, WPD enlists the help of one highly-trained police K-9. These K-9’s have saved lives and apprehended hundreds of perpetrators.
Bubka is an English Cocker Spaniel. He joined the department in June of 2015. He is trained to track both drugs and people, but he is not trained to bite. Instead, his tracking skills are used most when searching for lost children or elderly adults. Bubka is handled by a narcotic detective.
K9 Odin was born on December 11, 2017 in Slovakia. K9 Odin is a German Shepherd and weighs 90lbs. Odin joined the WPD on October 29, 2019. K9 Odin and Officer Zack Smith went through a six week training course at Vohne Liche Kennels and graduated on December 13, 2019. K9 Odin loves training, finding drugs, biting bad guys, and his tennis ball. When K9 Odin is not working, he enjoys chewing his bones and living the lake life. K9 Odin and Officer Smith currently work on 2nd shift at Warsaw PD.
The police K-9s are valuable law enforcement tools and have proven effective in the areas of narcotic detection, apprehension of fleeing criminals, tracking, article searches, and officer/handler protection. The K-9's are on call 24 hours a day and provide narcotics detection in local schools as well as local businesses. They also perform numerous demonstrations throughout the year. When the K-9s are off duty, they live with their handlers.
Although they are not currently serving with the department, past K-9s are fondly remembered by WPD’s officers. These are the animals who make up the history of the WPD K-9 Unit:
Pictured with Handler Bob Long
Breed: German Shepherd
Years of Service: 1989-1997
Handler: Al Dials
Breed: German Shepherd
Years of Service: 1997-2006
Handler: Joel Beam
Breed: Belgian Malinois
Years of Service: 2006-2014
Handler: Allen Danko
Breed: German Shepherd
Years of Service: 2007-2013
Handler: Phil Reed
Breed: Belgian Malinois
Years of Service: 2013-2019