The importance of La Crosse PD's K9 unit
LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – The La Crosse Police Department has a K9 unit that consists of four service dogs. Police Chief Shawn Kudron says each one is capable of handling many different kinds of assignments, 'Apprehension could be one thing that they do. The vast majority of their work is in narcotics detection. Whether that's a traffic stop or some other area where narcotics might be placed. Depending on the work that the officer is doing at the time, a K9 can be called to the scene to assist with that.'
K9 units are required to be trained at least 16 hours per month. K( Handler, Officer Aaron Westpfahl explains, 'We try to have a well-rounded training regiment which includes narcotics detection. We do a lot of the suspect apprehension stuff because it's very important we have that trained well because when that time comes and we use them, we want to make sure they're doing it as trained. We train in various other things like obedience. We want to have a very obedient dog.'
One of the department's service dogs Loki passed away unexpectedly last November. Westpfahl was Loki's handler and he says, 'Loki was heavily relied on for his narcotics detection, but that's not all he was able to do. 'We also used him for tracking both suspects and missing persons such as the elderly or a missing child. He had a really good temperament, so it was good to have him as part of the team.'
The police department says while losing Loki is tough, the K9 unit is still going strong as an added resource for both the department and the community. Chief Kudron says, 'When we are out there to serve and protect the community, those k9s can be trained to assist us. They're of great assistance. We have had a long history of having K9s here. They have helped with our service to the community, and we hope to be able to continue that.' According to La Crosse Police, K9 Loki had a total of 341 detection deployments in 2024
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Florence Police K-9 catches man in crawl space
FLORENCE, Ala. (WHNT) — The Florence Police Department says a man who hid under a house was captured with the help of a K-9 on Saturday. According to FPD, officers responded to the 1500 block of Houston Street for an in-progress domestic violence call. When they arrived, FPD said Robert Vanegas ran and hid beneath a nearby house. Officers found Vanegas hiding inside a crawl space, but said he refused to come out and tried to hide himself further. Sergeant Garrison and his K-9 partner, Aero, arrived on the scene. After failing to get Vanegas to come out, Sgt. Garrison, Aero and Officer Potts entered the crawl space. Using a taser proved to be ineffective due to the hanging insulation, exposed wires and limited space. Authorities said Vanegas moved even deeper into the crawl space. After continuing to ignore commands to surrender, FPD said Aero was deployed and bit Vanegas, causing a minor injury to his leg. EMS later treated him on scene, and no other medical attention was needed. FPD said Vanegas then surrendered and was safely removed from the crawl space by officers. Authorities said Vanegas was arrested for two active warrants and resisting arrest. He was taken to the Lauderdale County Detention Center, where he is being held on a $2,500 bond. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Davenport driver arrested after police find wrecked car, cocaine and cash: Court records
A 50-year-old Davenport man was in custody Saturday after Davenport Police say he drove the wrong way on a one-way and wrecked his car, according to Scott County arrest affidavits. Diondre Wakefield faces felony charges of controlled-substance violation and failure to affix a drug stamp, along with a serious misdemeanor charge of eluding, according to Scott County Court documents. About 11:53 p.m. Friday, Davenport Police saw Wakefield driving a white Dodge Charger in the area of the 400 block of Gaines Street, affidavits show. Officers knew Wakefield had several warrants for his arrest including local from Davenport Police and interstate from Rock Island County, according to affidavits. Police identified Wakefield as the driver. Officers activated their emergency lights and sirens to initiate a stop, but Wakefield 'immediately turned the wrong way on a one-way road and willfully failed to stop, fleeing at a high rate of speed,' police say in affidavits. Police relocated the Charger shortly afterward. The car had wrecked in the 800 block of Marquette Street and it was unoccupied. A K9 was on the scene and tracked southeast from the car. Officers gave Wakefield commands to surrender, but he remained hidden and refused to comply, affidavits say. During the track, police found a clear plastic bag containing 13.1 grams of cocaine discarded in a back yard, along with $42 cash. There was no tax stamp affixed to this, according to affidavits. The track continued south. Police found Wakefield about two houses south of where the narcotics and money were located. He had $755 cash. 'The large amount of the suspected crack cocaine along with the large amount of cash indicate (Wakefield) to be selling the crack cocaine,' police say in arrest affidavits. Wakefield was being held on a total $15,000 bond in Scott County Jail on Saturday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Police dog finds machine gun during arrest: PD
(KRON) – A police dog assisted officers in recovering a machine gun, according to the San Pablo Police Department. On Tuesday, San Pablo police officers received a ShotSpotter notification and responded to the area. Arriving officers found two people walking away from the scene. K-9, drone aid in arrests of San Leandro restaurant burglary suspects The two subjects were detained. According to police, the department's K9, named Zayn, helped locate a Tec-9 machine gun. The duo was arrested and booked at the county jail for various gun charges. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
