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K-9 Unit |
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The Steuben Co. Sheriff's Department currently has three officers assigned to the canine units. The three teams are Cpl. Darren Compton and his K-9 Smokey, Officer John Gonya and his K-9 Brix, and Officer Jeff Vanette and his K-9 Bam. To become a K-9 handler you must apply for the position then be selected and attend a three month K-9 Academy. The K-9 Academy is taught by the Allen County Sheriff's Department in Fort Wayne, IN. This is a three month course that instructs the K-9 Teams in the basic work such as Obedience, Tracking, Area Searches, Article Searches, Moving through and Obstacle Course, Building Searches, and Aggression Control. The K-9 Academy offers specialty training for the canines in the areas of Bombs searches, Cadavers searches, Arson detection, Gun detection, and Narcotics detection. Once the K-9 Teams graduate from the K-9 Academy they are still required to attend and eight hour in-service training session each month for the remainder fo their careers. Cpl. Compton has been a patrol officer since 1994 and joined the K-9 Unit in 1995. K-9 Smokey is a 2 1/2 year old Dutch Shepherd from the Netherlands. Smokey is a certified Utility Police Work Dog through the North American Police Work Dog Association. Smokey has been with the Sheriff's Department since January of 1999. Officer Gonya has been a patrol officer since 1995 and has been assigned to the K-9 Unit since 1998. K-9 Brix is a 3 1/2 year old Shepherd from Czechoslovakia. Brix is certified as a Utility/Narcotics Police Work Dog through the North American Police Work Dog Association. Brix has been with the Sheriff's Department since March of 1998. Brix has also been responsible for recovering over 110 pounds of marijuana over the past year. Officer Vanette has been a patrol officer since 1998 and was assigned to the K-9 Unit March of 2000. K-9 Bam is a 1 1/2 year old Shepherd from Holland. Bam is also certified as a Utility/Narcotics Police Work Dog through the North American Police Work Dog Association. The K-9 lives at home with their handlers and their families. The dogs are approachable but they will protect their cars so never approach a police car with a police dog inside of it. |
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Special Response Tactical Team |
K-9 Unit | Operations Division
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