K-9 Rex Retires After Distinguished Career
Sergeant Robert Gunzel sent the following about K-9 Rex, who is retiring after a nine-year career that included 100 apprehensions and searches that recovered drugs, money and weapons.
After nine years of distinguished service protecting the community and Deputies, Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s K-9 Rex retired on May 21st. Rex began his career with our Department in September of 2001, just weeks after the tragedy of September 11th. At the time he was a three-year-old KNPV (Dutch Royal Police Certification) trained and tested Belgian Malinois imported from Holland. KNPV certified dogs are sought out by law enforcement agencies worldwide. This rigorous training and certification culminates in field trials held annually in Europe where a perfect score is 440 points. A perfect score is rarely achieved by any of the hundreds of dogs tested each year. K-9 Rex was our Department’s first patrol dog that scored a perfect 440.
Rex spent most of his career assigned to the day shift out of North Operations. A majority of the time Rex was the only K-9 in service on day shift in the entire County. During his K-9 career he has assisted almost every city in the county. Whether locating and apprehending suspects, searching for narcotics or finding evidence, Rex was exceptional in his abilities! He helped apprehend almost 100 felony suspects countywide. Most of his apprehension deployments concluded with the suspect giving up once Rex arrived on scene. However, of those 19 suspects who did not comply, they quickly discovered the strength of his bite. Three of those bitten were armed with weapons. Rex was there to keep his patrol partners safe.
When Rex wasn’t searching for felony suspects, he could be found assisting in the search for narcotics, guns and drug money. One of his most significant finds came when he was assisting a Newport Beach Police Officer on a car stop. Rex located ten pounds of heroin and five stolen handguns which were in a hidden compartment in the gas tank. Another time, while assisting the Anaheim Police Department, he located $180,000 in U.S. currency in a vehicle. Then there was a time, while assisting the Huntington Beach Police Department, Rex was needed to perform an evidence search which entailed searching 48 residential yards for a loaded handgun. Of course, Rex found it in some bushes! Without Rex’s assistance and ability all of this contraband may not have been found.
Rex also served as a great K-9 ambassador for our Department. His social nature and appearance served him well for public appearances. He was a favorite at K-9 demonstrations for schools and community events.
At the age of twelve Rex is retiring to the half acre back yard and pool of his handler, Sgt. Rick Johnson. He will miss his K-9 buddies on the OCSD K-9 Team. He was a great partner to those deputies and officers he assisted on searches. He made life a lot safer for everyone across Orange County. Well done, Rex!
http://blog.ocsd.org/category/In-the-Community.aspx
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
