CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – The Clarksville Police Department (CPD) would like to welcome the newest member to its four legged, K9 crime fighting team – Vader.
Vader is now part of CPD’s K9 unit and is assigned to Officer Casey Stanton, whose previous K9 partner, Aris, was retired from active duty.
Vader is a two-year-old male Malinois and hails from Europe. He has been teamed up with Officer Stanton who has over nine years of K9 handler experience and has been in law enforcement for 20 years.
The pair just completed an intense six-week patrol/narcotics K9 handler training course in North Carolina. The course gave them an opportunity to bond and learn to work as a team training on such areas as: apprehension techniques, article search/evidence recovery, open area searches utilizing airborne scents to detect hidden suspects, building searches, tracking/trailing over different surfaces, and narcotic detection and obedience techniques.
CPD said the combined cost for the purchase of Vader and team training was about $13,900 (paid for through Federal Equitable Sharing Funds).
Officer Stanton and Vader are now working the streets of Clarksville as a team and have already been successful in identifying a vehicle that was carrying illegal contraband.
“Please join us in welcoming Vader to the CPD team,” CPD spokesman Jim Knoll said.
Photos courtesy of Jim Knoll, CPD:
