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Sammamish police introduce first city K‑9, highlight training and community teams
Summary
The Sammamish Police Department unveiled its first city-assigned K‑9, Falco, reviewed county canine oversight and deployment rules, and highlighted community engagement and marine training projects including the upcoming transition of the department's community engagement officer.
The Sammamish Police Department introduced Falco, its first city-assigned police canine, on Oct. 21 and told the City Council the dog will expand the department's capabilities for finding suspects and evidence, and for public engagement.
Assistant Chief Derek Jones, speaking for Chief Leissett and the department, said Falco is a 2‑year‑old German shepherd and will be handled by Deputy Lee Wunderlich. "Our dog is handled by Deputy Lee Wunderlich. Dog's name is Falco. He's a 2‑year‑old German Shepherd from the Slovak Republic," Jones said during the presentation.
The department said Falco will be used primarily as a generalist patrol team trained to locate human scent on evidence or suspects, and secondarily to apprehend when justified. Eric Gagnon, sergeant of the King County Sheriff's Office K‑9 unit, described the unit's certification and deployment standards, noting multi‑layer oversight and training requirements. "Initially,…
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