Handler Senior Police Officer Newman

K9 Bear will be six years old in 2016; he is a dual-purpose German Shepherd Police Service dog trained in patrol tactics and narcotics detection. K9 Bear came to the Houston Police Department in 2013 with only basic police service dog skills, where upon him and his handler, Senior Police Officer Eric Newman, completed 480 hours of training to be certified by the City of Houston. K9 Bear is also certified under the standards of National Narcotics Detection Dog Association (NNDDA) in the detection of five different narcotic odors.

In his short police career thus far K9 Bear has responded to an average of 1,500 calls for service each year throughout the Houston area. K9 Bear has been deployed more than 200 times conducting over 90 building searches and 65 tracks, each in an attempt to locate suspects. K9 Bear is credited with arresting more than 100 bad guys each year for various violations. As a narcotics dog, K9 Bear has found and removed an estimated value of more than $210,000 worth of narcotics from Houston streets, and seized over $276,000 of U.S. currency.

In 2014 Officer Newman and K9 Bear were responding to an assist the officer call, where a suspect had shot at officers. K9 Bear successfully tracked and located the suspect hiding in tall grass waiting in ambush for responding officers. As a result of this successful capture, K9 Bear surely saved the lives of several officers, and thwarted imminent danger to first responders and innocent civilians.

K9 Bear is by far the largest police service dog working in the HPD Canine Detail; he weighs in at 106 pounds and stands roughly five feet tall on his hind legs. At work K9 Bear has quite the reputation for being all business, and is always ready for the next call. But when K9 Bear is not on duty he lives at home with his handler and family and loves mom’s homemade cookie dog treats. In his off time, K9 Bear loves to go to the park, and his favorite activity is to play endless hours of fetch-the-tennis-ball.

Meet Lex and his HPD Handler Senior Police Officer RL Mason.

Lex is a 3yr old black/tan German Shepherd, he is a lean 75lbs. Lex is a single purpose Patrol dog that loves to play just as much as he loves to work! You could throw a tennis ball all day long and never wear this crazy dog out. I’ve never seen a dog that loves to run as much as Lex. He would work 24/7 if the department would let him. He runs out the door every morning to the driveway and starts jumping up and down at the K-9 car until I open the door for him to get in. He always gets excited whenever we are headed to a call using the emergency equipment (lights and siren). And sometimes he actually howls when he hears a siren, which can be a little annoying in a police car

T-Rex and Handler Police Officer PR Foster

T-Rex is a 2 yr old Belgian Malinois. He is a Patrol K-9 with with the Houston Police Department. His primary function is to assist Patrol Officers with searching and capturing suspects who are hiding from officers or have attempted to elude them. T-Rex was donated by a Citizen of Houston in June of 2015 and has gone through 4 months of training with our detail before being certified to work on the streets. He continues to train every day in order to perform his duties at the highest level. T-rex is very friendly and love affection. He enjoys taking part in demonstrations in the community and being loved on by anyone around him. In his spare time T-Rex loves playing with stuffed animals and just being a normal dog. Since October of 2015 T-Rex has captured numerous dangerous criminals and been a very important tool for patrol officers on the streets.

Jake and HPD Handler Senior Police Officer BL Schmidt

Jake is an 8 yr old Belgian Malinois. He is a smaller canine weighing about 55lbs., but don’t let the size fool you. He is what we call a leaper. When he is commanded to go on attack he will leap 10-12 feet to hit the suspect hard. You would never know Jake is 8 yrs old if you were to see him in action, he has a lot of energy and loves to work. Jake has the most captures on dayshift. His most recent captures were the two suspects that shot the officer during the Dollar Store robbery.

Jake is a dual purpose canine as he searches for suspects and he also searches for explosives. He is a most valuable tool to our officers on the streets of Houston.

Ronny with handler Senior Police Officer DL Shadden

Ronny is a 6yr old Belgian Malinois and I have been handling him for 4 years. He is a dual purpose canine in patrol and explosive detection. He came from Holland and we purchased him from Von Liche Kennels in Indiana. We work night shift and Ronny is primarily used for patrol (finding bad guys). However we also do extensive training in explosive detection. Since I have been working with Ronny on the streets he has apprehended apprx 130 bad guys and several evidence finds which are mostly guns or articles dropped by the bad guys. We train weekly with other canine teams and do some type of training every night on our own. Ronny is very social and for the most part will let just about anyone pet and love on him, however, when the tracking harness goes on and its time to work, he is all business. I call him the JJ Watt of canines, nice on the sidelines and off the field, but as soon as its game time he is all business. Ronny definitely likes his job. When we are off duty Ronny likes to relax and lay around on the deck and in the summer take a dip in the pool. He loves to swim.

Diesel and Handler HPD Police Officer J Michael

Canine Diesel is an 8 yr old Belgian Malinois that is from Holland. His is a dual purpose patrol/bomb dog with his strongest ability being a tracker. Diesel is HPD’s strongest tracking canine. He can track over all terrains including solid surfaces which are the hardest to track on. Diesel often tracks suspects well outside the perimeter the officers set. Diesel and I have been working together for 4 ½ years and have 140 captures. He is very social and loves attention. He is a very good dog for doing demo’s and we have done several for schools, churches and other events. We currently work night shift and love what we do, tracking down suspects and keeping Houston safe.

Surge with Senior Police Officer G Ortiz

Surge is a soon to be 6 yr old German Shepherd. His birthday is January 26, 2010. He comes from the Czech Republic. I’ve had Surge since he was 18 months old. He is a patrol canine and he is also trained to find articles off of human odor. Surge once found an officers car key he had lost in a bayou! I was more impressed with that than with him finding the crook in the woods. He has over 100 captures since we started working with patrol officers. Surge is very social and loves to play with his Kong toy. We perform demonstrations for various church groups and scout groups.

Direct with Handler Police Officer PO Ferguson

Direct is a 9 yr old, extremely high energy, Belgian Malinois, with an IPO1 title. Direct has been a member of the HPD’s Patrol Canine Detail since 2008 and has been assigned to me since May of 2014. Direct is a dual purpose patrol canine as he also is trained in explosive detection. As with all of the patrol canines at HPD, Direct is trained to bite and hold the suspect after he locates them allowing the handler and back up officers time to make a safe/tactical approach to effect the arrest. Direct has been imprinted and trained to search for and locate a variety of explosive materials and compounds. We work the night shift and have been a valuable asset to the patrol officers who often times depend on the canine teams to come in and locate wanted suspects who flee from officers. We located and apprehended 41 suspects in 2015.

As with all handlers and canines, Direct lives with me. This is very important as it helps form the inseparable bond that is created between the canine and his handler. Direct is extremely protective of me and would do anything necessary to protect me. He is a beloved member of our family and enjoys just “being a dog” at home. He plays with another family dog “Millie” and our 4 year old son. Mrs. Ferguson is the resident go to for ear scratching and love. He welcomes a game of fetch and the family is happy to provide that day or night, because he is used to working nights and being awake at that time. He loves to sun bathe in the cooler months and can be found sprawled out in the back yard grass near the swing set. In the warmer months, Direct has become quite fond of chasing the sprinkler, which can be quite entertaining to watch!

Handler Senior Police Officer JJ Reece

KENO IS A 4 YR OLD GERMAN SHEPHERD K9 THAT HAS BEEN IN SERVICE WITH THE K9 DETAIL FOR ABOUT 2.5 YEARS NOW. HE IS A DUAL PURPOSE PATROL/ EXPLOSIVES DETECTION K9 THAT HAS A VERY HIGH DRIVE TO WORK. KENO HAS BEEN A VALUED PARTNER AND EXTREMELY TRUSTWORTHY IN THE PERFORMANCE OF HIS DUTIES. HE IS STRONG IN HIS DETECTION WORK AND VERY ALERT WHEN DOING PATROL DUTIES. TO DATE KENO HAS ASSISTED IN SEVERAL KEY ARRESTS IN THE CITY.

Handler Sgt. JE Bickel

Dag is a six year old Belgian Malinois who has been working the streets for just about one year. He is trained in building searches, tracking, scouting and criminal apprehension.

I had just lost my K9 and decided to go through training Dag for patrol work. Dag and I went through HPD patrol K9 school together and now Dag has become a valued member of the Detail.

Police Officer MJ Barnette

Dexter is half-Belgian Malinois (mal-in-WAH) and half-Dutch shepherd, which are two of the three most common breeds used in patrol canine units. He came to the Houston Police Department in 2013 from Europe via our vendor in Florida. Dexter was trained in the Netherlands to the standards of the Koninklijke Nederland’s Politiehond Vereniging, or KNPV, which is the authority on police dog training in that country. Dexter is extremely agile and athletic, with a motivation to match. He can jump over fences from a sitting position and run like an Olympic sprinter. When I give commands to Dexter, I speak to him in a mix of Dutch and German. Since he became my partner, I have taught him how to play Frisbee, which has become his absolute favorite activity. The only other thing he loves as much is getting attention. When he meets someone new (someone who’s not a criminal, that is), he wants to put his paws on their hips so he can get his ears rubbed.