Suffolk K9s get police shields donated by local jeweler

For decades, canines have been essential members of the Suffolk County Police Department, finding missing residents, detecting illegal narcotics and sniffing out potential explosives.

But the four-legged members of the department were missing one essential part of their uniform: a badge.

On Tuesday, the department's 23 canine members were presented with police shields for their collars that were donated by a local jeweler.

"Our police canines play a humongous role in keeping this county safe and it starts with training," said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison during a ceremony in Yaphank. "The training is vigorous, demanding and definitely complex."

Gennaro Jewelers owner Gary Hudes, who donated the badges, said police dogs risk their lives for the public and deserve shields like officers do.

"We watch these dogs hard at work, going through the woods, in unknown backyards, all types of danger with bombs and sniffing out drugs," Hudes said. "And these dogs and their handlers deserve our recognition."

Suffolk police dogs receive hours of training in criminal apprehension, evidence recovery, obedience, tracking, narcotics and explosive detention, Harrison said. 

One of the canines, the commissioner said, works at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma and is trained in Vapor Wake technology, which samples the air for human heat plumes that may contain explosive particles.

Most recently, Harrison said, the police canines have begun training in electronic storage device detection, allowing them to "sniff out a chemical specific to all electronic devices, including thumb drives, hard drives, computers, cellphones and tablets. Items that sometimes can go unnoticed during a routine search, depending on how well these items are concealed."

On Tuesday, Anthem, along with the help of his human partner, Suffolk K-9 Officer Brendan Gayer, provided a demonstration of his training, leaping over walls, climbing through obstacles and running through tunnels.

In 2021, the department's canine members responded to 2,700 calls for service which resulted in 98 criminal apprehensions, 90 narcotic busts, the recovery of 23 firearms and 12 other weapons and the successful location of 34 missing people, Harrison said.