184th Patrol Canine Class Graduates Eight K9 Teams

This article was published on: 12/23/16 12:44 AM by Mike Minarsky

Middletown, CT. (December 22, 2016): The Connecticut State Police Canine Training Unit announces the graduation of the 184th Patrol Canine class. Canines are a vital tool for law enforcement, and are trained in the areas of obedience, patrol, locating missing persons, building searches, apprehending criminals, evidence recovery, crowd control, and protecting their handlers to name a few. For the canines, all German Shepherds, graduation marks the culmination of a 15-week rigorous and intense training course that began September 12, 2016. The Connecticut State Police Canine Training Unit trains dogs for approximately 42 different police agencies. The agencies include state police departments in the northeast, local and state police agencies in Connecticut, including the Department of Corrections (DOC) and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), and a sheriff’s department in New York.

Graduates and their assignments: Connecticut State Police Trooper William Veras and K9 Dexter Troop B – North Canaan Trooper First Class Michael Zmayefski and K9 Murphy Troop E – Montville

Connecticut Department of Corrections (DOC) Officer Joshua Trifone and K9 Tango

East Hampton Police Department Officer John Wilson and K9 Ardo

Enfield Police Department Officer Michael Colantuono and K9 Nova

Guilford Police Department Officer Brittany Bartlett and K9 Kobe

Middletown Police Department Officer Matthew Bloom and K9 Koda

Waterbury Police Department

****Also, 10 year old Janina Howard of Hebron donated $120.00 to the K9 Unit. She made and sold cookies to help raise the money.  Janina loves animals and wanted to do something to help.****