INSIDE the Lakeland Police Department

Lakeland Police K-9 Unit Receives Donation from Sam's Club

The Lakeland Police Department's K-9 unit received a $2,500 grant donation from the new Sam's Club in Lakeland earlier this week as part of their corporate Safe Neighborhood Heroes Grant program. The monies will go toward costs associated with replacing some of our aging K-9s. We recently had to purchase three new dogs due to medical and old age retirements, costs that we were not expecting in this budget year.

We welcome the new Sam's Club to the south Lakeland area and thank them for their generous grant donation to our K-9 program.

-Asst Chief Bill LePere

Just How Smart Are Your Police K-9s?

Ever wonder just how smart police K-9s really are? Here is a story to illustrate that our dogs are sometimes smarter than their officers.

Neighborhood officers were recently involved in a graffiti removal project in a southwest Lakeland neighborhood. The project involved painting over some gang markings that threatened to harm Lakeland Police officers working the area. We take these threats seriously and got permission of property owners to get rid of the vandalism right away. We are just not going to let some street thugs think they can mark their territory, put a neighborhood in fear, and threaten to kill police officers.

K-9 Officer Jeff Barrett comes along and offers to assist in the effort. The photo to the right shows him working with a paint roller. Carefully examine the photo and you will quickly see that it looks like Barrett has never used a paint roller before today.

To the rescue comes his K-9 partner, Beno, who has to show his master how to correctly use the tool and apply the paint in the photo below.

We have always believed that our police K-9s were some of the smartest in the business. We now have proof of that fact!

Our thanks to all the officers who participated in removing this gang graffiti. Special thanks to Home Depot for donating the paint needed to cover the graffiti. And we owe special thanks to Officer Barrett and K-9 Beno for posing for these photos and showing that officers do have a sense of humor.

-Asst Chief Bill LePere

Lakeland K-9 Unit Wins 4-man Team Award at Regional Trials

Sgt. Ed Cain, LPD K-9 Supervisor, submits the final report from the USPCA Region One Field Trials in Marion County, Florida.

The Lakeland Police K-9 Unit claimed the 4-man Team Trophy for the second year in a row at the just completed USPCA Region One Trials in Marion County and placed three officers in the top ten scores for individual handlers n the Patrol Dog competition.

The 4-man Team Trophy is considered by many to be the most prestigious award given at the trails because it represents the overall quality of K-9 skills for an agency's team. The award is not based on a single officer and K-9 but rather the combined excellence of the team.

Winning the trophy once again is a mixture of pride and humbleness for the trophy was renamed this year to the "Matt Williams and DiOiGi 4-Man Team Trophy" in honor of slain Polk County Deputy Sheriff Matt Williams and his K-9 partner DiOiGi.

The 2007 LPD Regional Trials Team

The individual scores for LPD K-9 Handlers for all events are listed below. The maximum possible score is a 700. A total of 59 K-9 handlers participated in the Patrol Dog competition.

Ofc. Ted Sealey and K-9 Bodo - 687.17 (2nd place overall finish)
Ofc. Jeff Barrett and K-9 Benno - 686.33 (3rd place overall finish)
Ofc. Rob Manrow and K-9 Bask - 670.83 (10th place overall finish)
Ofc. Aaron Peterman and K-9 Tuffy - 653.00
Ofc. Charlie Dallas and K-9 Dynx - 623.67

-Sgt. Ed Cain

Regional K-9 Trials: Day Two Results

Sgt. Ed Cain, LPD K-9 Supervisor, sent us the scores for LPD K-9 team members from the second day of competition at the USPCA Region One Field Trials in Marion County, Florida.

The K-9 Unit completed two phases of competition during the second day of Regional Field Trials with the following results:

Article Search (70 possible points)

Ofc. Barrett - 69.87
Ofc. Dallas - 69.33
Ofc. Sealey - 69.00
Ofc. Manrow - 69.00
Ofc. Peterman - 68.17

Suspect Search (110 possible points)

Ofc. Dallas - 110.00
Ofc. Sealey - 110.00
Ofc. Barrett - 109.50
Ofc. Peterman - 109.33
Ofc. Manrow - 108.17

Total Points (360 possible points so far)

Ofc. Barrett - 355.83
Ofc. Sealey - 355.66
Ofc. Dallas - 350.16
Ofc. Manrow - 350.00
Ofc. Peterman - 328.50

All five teams performed exceptionally well today. In a competition where one-hundredth of a point can make a big difference, our teams are doing very well. They participate in the criminal apprehension phase of the trials on Thursday.

-Sgt. Ed Cain

Regional K-9 Trials: Day One Results

Sgt. Ed Cain, LPD K-9 Supervisor, has sent us the scores for LPD K-9 team members from the first day of competition at the USPCA Region One Field Trials in Marion County, Florida.

The following results are from the Obedience and Agility phases of the field trials:

Obedience (120 possible points)

Ofc. Jeff Barrett - 118.83
Ofc. Ted Sealey - 117.33
Ofc. Rob Manrow - 114.00
Ofc. Aaron Peterman - 111.67
Ofc. Charlie Dallas - 111.50

Agility (60 possible points)

Ofc. Charlie Dallas - 59.33
Ofc. Ted Sealey - 59.33
Ofc. Rob Manrow - 58.83
Ofc. Jeff Barrett - 57.83
Ofc. Aaron Peterman - 39.33

Competitors will participate on Wednesday in the Evidence Search and Suspect Search phases of the Field Trials.

-Sgt. Ed Cain

Lakeland K-9 Officers at Regional Trials

The Lakeland PD K-9 officers are out of town this week attending the United States Police Canine Association Region 1 Field Trials hosted by the Marion County Sheriff's Office. Officer Ted Sealey and K-9 Bodo return to the trials as the defending co-champion from 2006. Lakeland is also out to defend our 4-man Team championship.

The trials get underway on Tuesday with Obedience and Agility competition. Evidence and Box Searches are set for Wednesday, and Criminal Apprehension testing is scheduled for Thursday.

Our officers have worked hard all year to get ready for another regional trials in hopes of bringing home one more championship. The trials are more than just working the dogs for show; the pressure of competition can be overwhelming. In addition field testing, the officers learn new training techniques and study legal changes that affect K-9 usage. We firmly believe that training for the regional and national trials (to be hosted by Lakeland PD in October this year - more on that another day) leaves our officers and their partners ready to do the best possible job when called upon.

We expect to be able to post daily results on the blog each evening after the scores are tallied at the end of the day. Come back each night to learn about the team's efforts.

We wish them the best of luck in Marion County!

-Asst Chief Bill LePere