Putnamville gets new K-9 officer

Friday, June 27, 2008
Dan Hearon and Samson

Indiana State Trooper Dan Hearon of the Putnamville Post has a new K-9 partner named Samson.

Samson will be utilized in Morgan, Hendricks and Putnam counties in the Putnamville District. On June 13, seven K-9 teams joined the existing 20 teams to bring the strength of the program to 27. These patrol dogs are assigned throughout the state of Indiana. These specially trained German Shepherds assist troopers in their day-to-day activities and operations.

The State Police use the German Shepherd breed because of their adaptability, intelligence, demeanor and drive.

The handlers and their K-9 partners just completed 14 weeks of intense training. Each dog was certified in drug detection, tracking, evidence (article) search, building search, obedience and controlled aggression. Both handlers and dogs received over 500 hours of training. The training was conducted during the hours of daylight as well as darkness.

Master Trainer Robert Compton of the Allen County Police Department taught the training course. Master Trainer Compton has trained all state police patrol K-9 teams currently in the field.

Indiana State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell implemented the multidimensional K-9 program in September 2005. The K-9 program graduated its first handlers and their counterparts in February 2006. The goal of the department is to place 30 patrol-detector teams throughout the state.

The K-9 program has made numerous drug seizures, as well as making hundreds of apprehensions.

Their tracking capabilities have been utilized to find children and elderly people who have become lost.

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  • I was not aware that they could train a dog to write seatbelt and speeding tickets!! WOW, what a world we live in.

    -- Posted by dreadpirateroberts=idiot on Fri, Jun 27, 2008, at 12:31 PM
  • The German Shepherds are outstanding K-9's for use in the Law Enforcement field. I know this for a fact. Working with them and around them for over 20 years, they are dependable and they will truely do their job. Also, they will protect their handler to the end.

    -- Posted by MarkC on Fri, Jun 27, 2008, at 6:00 PM
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