Sheriff’s office welcomes new K-9 officer to squad

Sheriff’s office welcomes
new K-9 officer to squad

In response to the growing need for law enforcement canine teams after the terrorist attacks on America of Sept. 11, the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office added the newest member to the Sheriff’s Canine Unit — a specially trained explosive-detection dog named Lexus.

Lexus, a 2-year-old light brown female Chesapeake Bay retriever, is certified, as per the guidelines of the N.J. State Attorney General’s Office, for detection of a wide range of explosive devices, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

"The attacks of Sept. 11 focused attention on the important roles that specially trained canine (K-9) teams play in fighting terrorism and bolstering homeland security capabilities," said Monmouth County Sheriff Joseph W. Oxley. "As a primary responder in Monmouth County, as well as across the region, the sheriff’s office must remain vigilant and proactively address new threats that face our nation. The addition of K-9 Lexus will substantially enhance our ability to keep pace with the exponential increase in requests for explosive-detection dog teams."

During the days and weeks immediately following the World Trade Center attack, two sheriffs’ K-9 teams, led by sheriffs’ officers Thomas Duda and Robin Eckel, worked closely with the Port Authority Police to provide explosive-detection searches at the bridges and tunnels leading to New York City. Other sheriffs’ officers served as "spotters," providing security for the dog handlers while they worked.

During the 10 days following the attack, sheriffs’ offices K-9 teams conducted explosive-detection searches on more than 1,000 vehicles at the border crossings between New Jersey and New York.

K-9 Lexus will be assigned to Eckel.

The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Unit presently consists of five dogs: one narcotic-detection team (K-9 Jake, a German shepherd); two explosive-detection teams (K-9 Diesel, a black Labrador retriever; and K-9 Lexus); one tracking team (K-9 Luke, a bloodhound); and one patrol team (K-9 Chino, a German shepherd, who has also been cross-trained for explosive detection).

The sheriff’s office K-9 Unit is called upon year-round to assist local police departments with explosive detection, criminal or missing persons’ searches and narcotics detection.