Title
Special recognition honoring the Lake County Sheriff’s K-9 Unit.
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SPECIAL RECOGNITION
WHEREAS, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office has ten K-9 teams, with nine canines and their partners working in the Patrol Division and one canine and her partner in the Criminal Investigation Division; and
WHEREAS, each Sheriff’s Office Deputy trains, works, and lives with their canine partner, helping the handler and their canine to build a bond from the very beginning; and
WHEREAS, our K-9 units are skilled at tracking to find people, locating narcotics, searching areas to find evidence of a crime or missing items, crowd control, and explosive recognition, and they are also ambassadors of the department, appearing at numerous special events; and
WHEREAS, in 2023 alone, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office K-9 units were deployed to 497 incidents. Our K-9 units:
• located 17 missing persons
• apprehended 55 persons who fled from the police
• located 8 handguns
• located 33 concealed electronic devices
• assisted in the seizure of $626,607
• and located an array of illegal narcotics.
WHEREAS, K-9 Odin assisted a local police department with a missing juvenile by tracking her for a mile and a half before she was successfully found; and
WHEREAS, K-9 Axel was called in to assist to help find a man who had disappeared into a wooded area. He was found and taken to the hospital for evaluation; and
WHEREAS, K-9 Tera has assisted numerous law enforcement offices, including a recent search she did with a McHenry County police agency where she found dozens of hidden electronic storage devices with potentially harmful material; and
WHEREAS, K-9 Zeus was called in by a local police department to help with tracking down a special needs child who went missing. With Zeus’ assistance they found him and quickly reunited him with his family; and
WHEREAS, K-9 Dax found a missing minor after she left her home. A local police department searched for an hour before K-9 Dax was called for assistance and quickly found the girl unconscious. She was given medical treatment and safely recovered; and
WHEREAS, K-9 Drako was called in to help find a suspect in an armed robbery who had fled on foot. K-9 Drako tracked him for a mile and the suspect was taken into custody; and
WHEREAS, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit recently earned top awards at the United States Police Canine Association’s National Field Trials, a multistate competition. The competition involves tracking, narcotics searching, cadaver detection, obedience, finding articles and suspects through scent work, and apprehension.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RECOGNIZED, by this County Board of Lake County, Illinois, that our board offers its appreciation to the Lake County Sheriff’s K-9 units for serving and protecting the community every day. The partnership between the handler and the canine is a shining example of tremendous courage and teamwork when seconds matter the most. We are incredibly grateful for the grant monies that the Sheriff’s Office receives that help to support these amazing teams.
DATED at Waukegan, Illinois, on January 16, 2024.