E Wenatchee PD’s New K9 Duo Already Making Big Impact On Crime
After only less-than-two weeks on patrol, the East Wenatchee Police Department's new K9 unit is already reporting a marked impact on crime.
The Department's new duo of K9 Maverick, a three-year-old German Shepherd, and Officer Jordan Conley hit the streets on Sept. 23, after the pair graduated from over 200 hours of specialized training at the Airway Heights Corrections Center near Spokane.
On Wednesday (Oct. 2) night, Conley and Maverick were called to a traffic stop just outside East Wenatchee where the dog detected the presence of drugs in a vehicle.
East Wenatchee Police Chief Rick Johnson says a subsequent search of the vehicle turned up a stolen firearm, a half-pound of meth, and 300 fentanyl pills, along with fentanyl powder.
"This is the biggest bust they've had so far, but Maverick and Officer Conley have been establishing probable cause for search warrants almost every day since being on the force together. We knew the gravity of the fentanyl issue in the Valley, but I think just the last ten days of Maverick working on our streets is showing just how big the problem we're dealing with really is."
K9 Maverick is one of only three police dogs in the entire state that is specifically trained to detect fentanyl outside of jails and prisons.
Johnson says the dog is also working wonders at giving officers the power they need to search for illegal drugs.
"When we get information on a vehicle, many times it might be enough for us to put it under surveillance or make contact with the occupants. But it does not necessarily help them in establishing probable cause for a search warrant. But when the dog is brought on scene and alerts on an exterior search of a vehicle, that does help in establishing probable cause, which allows our officers to get into the vehicle and seize these drugs."
K9 Maverick is working exclusively as a drug-detection dog, and is also certified in locating methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin.
Officer Conley and Maverick are the first K9 team at the East Wenatchee Police Department since 2011, when the only dog it had at the time was retired.
Johnson says the Department raised over $30,000 in donations to fund the new K9 unit, which will require roughly $15,000 in annual donations to continue.