​Introducing Officer Eric Clifford and K9 Dozer from the Hartford Police Department. Officer Clifford began his career with the Hartford Police Department in 2008, and he was certified as a full-time law enforcement officer in 2009. In 2016 the Police Department made Officer Clifford their canine handler and they obtained K9 Dozer. K9 Dozer is a 2 year old black Labrador Retriever, originally from Gettysburg, PA. Officer Clifford and K9 Dozer were certified in drug detection in February of 2016 and since that time K9 Dozer can be credited with many drug finds and locating of missing people. His largest drug find was a seizure of 1,711 bags of heroin. He also recently was able to locate a missing juvenile. K9 Dozer is a very happy and energetic dog, who is also very patriotic, check out the video of him speaking, his command to speak is "'Merica!". When he is not working, he loves to play and goof around. The team can frequently be found out and about, where they love to meet and interact with the community members around them. 

May's featured K9 team is Trooper Joe Duca and K9 Buck from the Vermont State Police, Rutland Barracks. Trooper Duca has been a trooper since 2007 and in 2013 he and his partner, K9 Buck, became certified in drug detection and police canine patrol. K9 Buck is a 4.5 year old Belgian Malinois. The team is credited with winning "Top Police Team" two times at the Green Mountain Iron Dog competitions. Trooper Duca and K9 Buck enjoy participating in K9 demonstrations to show the many skills that K9 Buck has learned. Some of the photos included show K9 Buck demonstrating his skills at his favorite store, Home Depot. K9 Buck also loves children, so he is frequently found attending various school events and teaching children what he does for work.

We are going to start featuring a K9 team each month.

Our first feature is Cpl. Dave Dewey and his partner K9 Tazor.

Cpl. Dewey and Tazor work for Colchester Police Department. Cpl. Dewey has been a police officer since 1995. He has had two K9 partners during his career, first being K9 Kilo from 1999-2006. His current partner, K9 Tazor, is going to be 11 years old in May, and has been certified in patrol and drugs. K9 Tazor began his career when he was 7 months old. Cpl. Dewey and his K9 partners are credited with winning the Iron Dog Competition twice, once for building search and once for drug searches. They are also credited with winning the tracking team of the year award as well as lifesaving awards.