187^th Patrol Canine Class Graduates Seven K9 Teams

Middletown, CT. (July 6, 2017): The Connecticut State Police Canine Training Unit announces the graduation of the 187^th 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, mainly German Shepherds, graduation marks the culmination of a 15-week rigorous and intense training course that began in March 2017.

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.

Also present for today's graduation was Norbert from NY. Norbert has been providing the CSP K9 Unit with patrol dogs for 17 years, and provided CSP K9s Argo and Jack of this recent class.

Graduates and their assignments:

Connecticut State Police Troop D - Danielson

Trooper Jonathon Kelo and K9 Jack Dexter   

Connecticut State Police Troop K - Colchester

Trooper Philip Soucy and K9 Argo                 

Connecticut Department of Corrections (DOC)

Corrections Officer Charles Ellison and K9 Ghost

University of Connecticut Police Department

Officer Jonathon Santiago and K9 Ranger

Officer Lindsey Gionfriddo and K9 Blaze

Cromwell Police Department

Officer John Carlson and K9 Bane

Waterbury Police Department

Officer Chris Zentek and K9 Blaze