(Fort Wayne, IN)-The Indiana State Police post in Fort Wayne has added a K-9 team to its District with the graduation of Trooper Christopher Davis and his partner Duke this past Friday at the Indiana State Police Museum in Indianapolis. The ceremony graduated a total of four new State Police K-9 teams, bringing the total number of the agency's teams to 40 statewide.
Davis, a seven year veteran, and Duke just completed 14 weeks of intense training in which Duke had 500 hours of training in narcotic searches, aggression control work, building searches, tracking, article searches, and obedience. Duke is a certified Police Service Dog through the International Police Work Dog Association (IPWADA). He is certified in the detection of narcotic odors related to Methamphetamine, Marijuana, Cocaine, Crack Cocaine, Ecstasy, and Heroin.
The K-9 academy was under the direction of ISP Master Trainer Sergeant Dennis Wade and trainers Master Trooper Kevin Waters, Senior Trooper Mick Dockery and Senior Trooper Chris Richey, along with ISP K-9 coordinator Tony Knox, and ISP Special Operations Commander Major Pat O’Connor.
“The primary initiative of the ISP K-9 team is to search for and locate suspect(s) or evidence that can be linked to a specific crime. The dog is one of the few investigative tools that is available to the patrol team”, commented ISP K-9 Trainer Master Trooper Kevin Waters.
