Ukiah Police Department (UPD) and Ukiah Unified School District (UUSD) are excited to introduce their new detection dog, Jack, who will work at Ukiah High School and other school sites throughout the district. The new amazing sniffer is a two-year-old English Springer Spaniel trained by Golden Gate K9, a company from Santa Rosa, CA that specializes in police, service, protection and detection dogs. Jack has been trained to detect target odors including a wide variety of illegal substances and firearms.
Jack’s K9 Handler will be Officer Anthony DeLapo, the UPD Resource Officer at Ukiah High School. DeLapo has been patiently waiting for Jack’s arrival, as he had been the K9 Handler for Bugsy, UPD’s previous detection dog who recently and unexpectedly passed away. When Jack finishes with his busy day at school, he gets to go home with Officer DeLapo and become a part of his family.
Representatives from the Ukiah Police Department and UUSD were recently present for a demonstration where Jack quickly and successfully detected all of the target odors intentionally hidden inside lockers at Ukiah High School. Officer DeLapo and Jack trained for approximately six weeks to be ready for their first day of duty at the high school on Friday, November 2, 2018.
“We are all excited to have Jack join us here at the Ukiah Police Department and we are very confident in the training that he and Officer DeLapo have received. The arrival of Jack means we have another valuable new tool to use when trying to locate illegal substances and weapons at our schools. His presence also acts as a great deterrent to those thinking of bringing illegal substances or items to school,” commented Chief Justin Wyatt, Ukiah Police Department.