Photos by Gina Mills
[** Denotes the Winners of each category]
[** Denotes the Winners of each category]
This is the second consecutive year that Argo has won this category. This year he distinguished himself in several different apprehensions of fleeing/resisting suspects who often were armed and dangerous. He’s getting so good at this, after one apprehension he and his handler came the under fire while returning to their vehicle. Apparently, Argo’s high visibility in numerous successful apprehensions in a high drug traffic area, has made him a target. When will they learn that "stop or I’ll release the K-9" means it’s time to give up, stop running, and don’t even think of fighting with one of these dedicated canine officers.
For the first time, since these awards were expanded in 1991, we have dual winners in a category. Unfortunately, it may be a sign of the times that these magnificent canine officers are so busy in this area of law enforcement.
 ** John Hallquist & Bart - St. Louis County P.D. |
Bart was nominated for over 300 searches that he conducted for over 30 different agencies/departments. This past year he was responsible for the seizure of over $750,000 in drugs and nearly $1 million of currency. Like many of his fellow canine officers, Bart has made cases with both large amounts and minute amounts of controlled substances detected.
 **Brian Hale & Paco - Hazelwood P.D. |
Paco was another busy boy this past year, assisting numerous officers, agencies, and departments with both vehicle searches and in executing search warrants. This year Paco was responsible in locating over $1,350,000 worth of drugs, nearly $75,000 in currency, and 16 guns were seized. This 10 ½ year old K-9 officer made the largest drug seizure in the history of the North County Meg Unit. Paco’s dedicated work not only gets large quantities of drugs off the street, but also results in getting drug dealers put away.
After a seemingly typical traffic stop which resulted in Riki being called upon to conduct a thorough vehicle search after establishing probable cause, other evidence including ammunition for a .22 caliber gun was discovered. Ten days later, the Major Case Squad contacted Officer Werges about some of the evidence that had been detected and the relationship of some of this evidence to a homicide that they were investigating. Eventually, the driver and his passenger were arrested for the homicide, in part because of the evidence that Riki detected and the subsequent questioning of the suspects by his handler.
Grinch is turning into one tracking machine. He was nominated by his handler for seven of his exemplary tracks that he conducted this past year. His tracks cover wild brush on river banks, through backyards, over parking lots, into playgrounds, and over streets and sidewalks. His tracks often concluded in the apprehension of felons who were often armed and dangerous. Just in the past few months, his work has resulted in nearly 2 dozen felony charges.
5. PROTECTION
**Richard Wagner "Rocky" Maryland Heights P.D.
In a rather complicated incident Rocky was called upon to locate and apprehend a fleeing armed suspect. After appearing to elude the team, the suspect was reacquired hiding near a loading dock. When the suspect failed to comply with Officer Wagner’s request, the remote door opening device was employed to release Rocky to come to the assistance of his handler. In the ensuing apprehension, Rocky had to convince the suspect that he better comply with the requests of the arresting officer – or else! He certainly prevented any injury to his handler.
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