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K-9 Patrol
Manitowoc K-9 Patrol
The K-9 Unit includes two K-9's and their handlers. The unit serves as a valuable tool in combating and deterring crime. It is often the determining factor in conducting a search or achieving a peaceful arrest. The program serves as a valuable public relations tool through demonstrations in schools and at public events.
The canine unit may be used for tracking/searching for lost individuals, tracking/apprehending criminal suspects, perform drug/building/resident/vehicle searches, narcotics detection, or crowd control.
The K-9's and their handlers train for at least 16 hours every month, depending on manpower availability and call volume. Training includes a variety of different scenarios and the Manitowoc Police Department K-9's also train with handlers and dogs from the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Office. They are certified annually by an independent trainer.
Our K-9 Program is funded solely on donations received. The only expense that is included in the Manitowoc Police Department's budget is the K-9 Handlers wages/benefits. The K-9 Program started in 2009 with our fundraising goal to obtain funds for start-up costs, which was achieved in early 2010. Within a year of the inception of this program we were able to expand our K-9 Unit to a multi K-9 Unit. In July 2014, we turned our fundraising focus to the replacement costs of our K9s if one would be injured or sick. It is our desire to raise money for a replacement for our K-9's as the need to replace one of them is always a possibility looming on the horizon as the demands and rigors of their duties sometimes significantly shorten their service span. All day to day operating costs, equipment and training still need to be accounted for as well through donations. If you wish to find out more information regarding our fundraising efforts, please go to: Fundraising
Officer Nick Place and Major
K-9 Major
In May 2015, Officer Nick Place was selected to be the
department's third K-9 Handler. The Manitowoc Police Department received a
gracious donation from the organization, K9S4COPS, and that organization paid
for the dog and a six-week handler course at AMK9 Kennel in Anniston, Alabama.
Officer Place was then paired up with a two-year-old male Belgian Malinois
named Major. Like the department's two previous dogs, K9 Major is also a
dual-purpose police dog, which means he is trained in tracking, apprehension,
building and area searches, drug detection, and handler protection. K-9 Major
is the first Belgian Malinois police dog that has served in Manitowoc County.
Officer Jason Koenig and Neko
In February 2017, Officer Jason Koenig a previous K-9 handler was selected to receive the department’s fourth K-9. Officer Koenig was paired with K-9 Neko, a 16 month old male sable-colored German Shephard. K-9 Neko is a “dual purpose” police dog, which means he is trained in tracking, apprehension, building and area searches, drug detection and handler protection. Officer Koenig and K-9 Neko trained for 2 weeks at Shallow Creek Kennels in Sharpsville, Pennsylvania before becoming certified for patrol duties in April 2017.