Canine Unit
27
Operations
The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office Canine Unit had much success in 2018, serving the citizens of this great county. The Canine Unit came back to full staffing with the addition of the newest canine handler, Deputy Vaughan and his canine partner Apollo. Vaughan comes to the unit with three years of experience in Patrol in addition to one year of experience with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Vaughan and his partner Apollo participated in an intensive POST certified six week patrol training class beginning January 2019. Apollo is a 17 month old 80 lb. German Shepherd born in Germany.
Deputy Tucker and Carly continue work as a
patrol team / team leader and have had several
significant finds this year. One notable arrest
involved assisting the California Highway
Patrol after a pursuit of a stolen truck from
South Lake Tahoe. During the pursuit, the
suspect rammed a CHP patrol vehicle and later
crashed in Pollock Pines. The suspect then fled
into the forest armed with a handgun. Carly was
called to the scene and located the suspect
hidden in a wood pile after tracking for
approximately one mile.
Deputy Gillespie and his canine partner Cargo continue to grow and expand their tracking capabilities while working patrol. Cargo is a
“Fan Favorite” for his outwardly affectionate
personality at the numerous community event demonstrations he and his handler participated in this year. Cargo has become an excellent patrol canine and a huge asset to the agency.
Deputy Hamon and canine partner Bak also work as a patrol team and are also assigned to the SWAT Team. Bak is currently certified as a Swat & K9s Interacting During Deployment School (SKIDDS) canine. At SKIDDS., both canine and handler are educated and trained on the deployment of police service dogs in a
SWAT operation. SKIDDS training covers
entries, slow stealth and tactical team
movements and searching techniques, safer
arrest techniques along with team movement
during live gunfire. The skills acquired enhance
searching abilities and make the SWAT canine
team’s job safer and easier. This year, Bak and
Hamon completed their POST certified
Narcotics Detection Training and have
had numerous narcotics apprehensions
throughout the county.
The Canine Unit participated in several
demonstrations and events to include Red
Ribbon week, the Sheriff's Posse Picnic,
Citizen's Academy, National Night Out and
several other public demonstrations where the
Canine Unit teams were featured and on display
to the public.
The Canine Unit continues to serve the citizens
of El Dorado County very effectively by being a
deterrent to violent criminal activity. Canine
partners provide enhanced safety for both the
public and the deputies. Their humble reward is
their handlers praise and the joy of getting an
opportunity to play with their favorite toy as a
reward.