Six law enforcement K-9 teams – including two from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and one from the Ocala Police Department – recently graduated from a Multi-Agency training program.
The training, hosted by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, including a special graduation ceremony this past Friday for the six handlers and their K-9s. In addition to the three local K-9 teams, participating law enforcement officers came from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office and the Williston Police Department. They all spent the past several months together working to earn their Florida Department of Law Enforcement K-9 certification.
The newly certified K-9 teams include:
- Dep. Mohammad Refaei and K-9 Duder (MCSO);
- Dep. Alberto Gago-Chuquillanqui and K-9 Nitro (MCSO);
- Officer Alex Roos and K-9 Cheney (OPD);
- Sgt. Dean Watson and K-9 Axel (Gilchrist County Sheriff’s Office);
Dep. Zach Prevatt and K-9 Bane (Putnam County Sheriff’s Office); and
Officer Richard Peters and K-9 Shadow (Williston Police Department).
MSCO Dep. Jeremie Nix and OPD K-9 Officer Amado Burgos also received thanks for assisting in the training of these new K-9 teams over the last few months, as did the Tuck family and the many community sponsors for their support of K-9 Duder during the process. Duder was purchased in memory of David “Duder” Tuck, who was a volunteer observer for the MCSO Aviation Unit and a steadfast supporter of Marion County law enforcement.