Indianapolis – Recently, nine troopers and their K-9 partners hit the road after a graduation ceremony held at the Indiana State Police Youth and Historical Center. With the addition of these graduating dogs it will increase the number of Indiana State Police patrol dogs to 37. The graduating class underwent 17 weeks of intense training that certified the multidimensional K-9s in obedience, evidence search, area search, building search, tracking, aggression control, and the detection of several different controlled substances. The class was under the charge of Master Trainer Sergeant Dennis Wade with assistance from Master Trooper Mick Dockery, Master Trooper Kevin Waters, and Senior Trooper Chris Richey.
Two troopers assigned to the Indiana State Police Peru Post graduated with their police dogs. Indiana State Trooper Ben Reason, a two year member of the Department, graduated with his K-9 partner Cartoush. Cartoush is three-year-old Belgian Malinois.
Trooper Caleb Clark, a four year veteran with the Indiana State Police, graduated with his police dog Blitz. Blitz is an 18 month-old German shepherd.
Cartoush and Blitz are the only current police dogs assigned to the Indiana State Police Peru Post. They were preceded by two other dogs, Zeke and Smokey, who have both since retired.
Two photos are attached: 1) ISP Superintendent Douglas Carter, Trooper Ben Reason and Cartoush 2) ISP Superintendent Douglas Carter, Trooper Caleb Clark and Blitz.
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