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Health & Fitness

NAPD K-9 Unit: Kyzer and Julie

Meet our local Police K-9 Dogs

This past weekend the North Andover Police dept and CrimeWatch held an open house for all to tour the new  facility,  to learn more about the station and to meet a few of our officers.  

However, how many of you know our Police K-9?  And the ones that do, do you know how advanced our K-9 unit is?  They help protect the Town of North Andover, Essex County, the Commonwealth and in some cases our Nation.

I do!  I think I am the biggest North Andover  K-9  fan in the history of the program.  There really isn’t anything I don’t know about our police dogs.  Seriously, if you ask the Police K-9 unit..they’ll confirm.  “Tracey the Dog Walker” is the ultimate groupie!  And I must proudly say, we have two very different but each equally amazing dogs:  Kyzer and Julie.

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What does the Police K-9 do?   The K-9 Unit assists police personnel to search for missing persons, hidden suspects or articles, evidence of a crime, to locate the presence of narcotics and to detect bombs and explosives.  The K-9 Unit also assists in the arrest and apprehension of felons and protects officers and the public from serious injury. 

Who is our K-9 unit?  The current K-9 department consists of Sgt. Chuck Gray and his shepherd Kyzer and Officer Bill Brush and his black lab Julie.

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Kyzer:  almost 7yrs old Kyzer is a gorgeous German shepherd.  He is stoic, poised, loyal, focused and a true defender.   Kyzer attended the Boston Police K-9 Academy for several months to become certified in patrol/tracking and narcotics detection. Gray is a member of the International Police Work Dog Association and is also a certified Drug Recognition Expert and Drug Recognition Expert Instructor certified through the National Highway Traffic Safety Association and the International Chiefs of Police Association.

Julie:  Black lab beauty.  She specializes in bombs and explosives and is a member of the NEMLEC STARS team (North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council) and a member of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF).  Officer Brush services not only NAPD but Middlesex and Essex counties.  Being that he is sworn in as a US Marshall, he and his K-9 Julie may be called to go anywhere in the United States.   That’s right North Andover has a K-9 dog that is a U.S. Marshall!

Are the dogs really officers?  YES..each dog goes through the Academy and training with their handler who is a police officer.  Once they complete the Academy and their initial training the dogs are actually sworn in as police officers.

Where do the dogs live?  The dogs go home at night with the officers and become part of their home life.  Both of these dogs go home to families and family pets, where they can socialize like all dogs do.  This is a true partnership between the officer and the dog as they are together 24/7 365 days a year.

Any little trivia about the dogs?   Kyzer LOVES toys and Julie will steal food off the table if nobody is looking!

The next time you are at an event and you see the  K-9 unit please ask the officers if you can approach their dogs.  Both are very friendly but  remember they are ”working” dogs and not pets.  Therefore, they are trained to do a job first and play second.  If you ask Sgt. Gray or Officer Brush and if the time is appropriate they will be able to put their dogs in command and let you see our wonderful K-9 unit.  

 

 

 

 

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