MEDIA RELEASE: 08/08/18
On August 5th, 6th and 7th, the Marshalltown Police Department K9 Teams attended the United States Police Canine Associations annual Iowa Police Dog Certification trials. This trial was held in Des Moines and hosted by the Des Moines Police Department Canine Unit.
During these trials, the participating K9’s were scored in several different areas to include obedience, agility, article/evidence recovery, human scent detection and criminal apprehension/handler protection skills. The K9 and their handler must score over 70% to be certified as a Police Patrol Dog. There were 34 teams in attendance.
The Marshalltown Police Department K9 unit did very well again. Lt Kiel Stevenson and his partner Raji and Sgt Tom Watson and his partner Jordy, were part of a four-man team and placed 2nd overall. In addition, Stevenson and Raji placed first overall in the agility phase as well as the article/evidence recovery phase.
The Marshalltown K9 Units continue to train up to 16 hours per month in the above skills as well as in the detection of illegal narcotics. MPD is often joined by K9 units from Meskwaki PD and Tama Co, as well as training periodically with the Des Moines PD K9’s and the West Des Moines PD K9 unit.
The certification is held annually at different locations around the state. Our K9 Units are available for talks and demonstrations at request. Contact Sgt Melinda Ruopp at 641-754-5725 for questions.