Council, Mayor Recognize Police K-9 Unit Accomplishment

The Township Council and Mayor David Mayer on Monday honored the police department's K-9 Unit for its second-place finish in a national competition held in late September.

"As we approach the one-year anniversary of the death of K-9 Schultz, we saw our community come together for Cpl. (Mark) Pickard and his family and for our police department," Mayer said during Monday night's Council meeting. "Out of that, really, today is a celebration. It's a celebration of the growth of our K-9 department, as well as a celebration of the acknowledgements that they have received for their many, many hours of hard work and training."

The Gloucester Township Police K-9 Unit was among 82 teams to qualify for and compete in the National Police Canine Association's (NPCA) National Patrol Dog Field Trial in Detroit Lakes, MN, Sept. 18-23.

The township team, which consists of Pickard and K-9 Maximus, Ptl. Chris Gerace and K-9 Arrow, Ptl. James Clark and K-9 Nero, and Cpl. James Kaelin and K-9 Brutus, fell just 2.03 points behind NPCA 2011 national champion Minnesota Department of Corrections, edged by a score of 2608.51-2606.48.

After being presented plaques by Police Chief W. Harry Earle and Mayer, the K-9 Unit gave the trophy it was awarded in Minnesota last month to Earle.

"We go to our trials for our certifications. Trophies are one way to gauge our unit," Kaelin said. "So, if someone comes to the chief and asks the chief, 'How's your unit?' He won't know unless we go to a competitions. So, now, he can say, 'Our unit—second best in the country.'"

Gerace and K-9 Arrow finished seventh and Pickard and K-9 Maximus 18th in the "Top Dog" K-9/handler competition.

"Please know that finishing seventh overall is an amazing accomplishment for Ptl. Gerace, who is our newest K-9 handler," Police Chief W. Harry Earle said.

Gerace reportedly became just the third first-year K-9 handler in the 40-year history of the NPCA national trials to finish in the top 20.

The competing dogs and their handlers were tested in a variety of arenas, including obedience, agility, evidence search, suspect search, criminal apprehension and criminal apprehension with gunfire, during the trials.

"I want to thank the mayor and Council for their support of the K-9 team," Earle said, "and the very special support of the community. K-9 Arrow and K-9 Max were purchased with memorial donations for K-9 Schultz."

Mayer and Pickard applauded the community for the donations that allow the K-9 Unit to travel to events like the national trials.

Kaelin and Pickard are certified police canine instructors, and train all Gloucester Township Police K-9s in house, "which of course saves us some travel time and expenses," Earle noted.

"You have to realize how much dedication and time that they put into training the police K-9s," Earle said. "It is significant. They did not make this achievement by working their 40 hours in a week."