Meet Redmond Police Department's new K-9 Unit
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY
March 4, 2021
CONTACT
Andrea Wolf-Buck, Public Information Officer
awolf-buck@redmond.gov
425-440-1316
REDMOND, Wash. - Redmond Police Department is proud to announce our new K-9 Unit working hard to keep our community safe. Officer Dan McNamara and K-9 Griff recently finished the required 400 hours of training to be certified and are committed to faithfully serving our City.
The new team is replacing the vacancy left by K-9 Remy’s recent retirement and K-9 Officer Dan Smith’s move back to patrol officer. Read about their career together here: Redmond Police honor recently retired K-9 Remy's service to the City (govdelivery.com)
K-9 Griff, a German Shepherd, was born in Germany in November of 2017 and began his training with Blue Line K-9 in Rochester, Wash. He joined the McNamara family in September of last year, and Griff and Officer McNamara spent the fall and winter in intensive training along with several other new King County K-9 Units.
Currently, K-9 Griff has been trained for tracking, locating subjects and apprehension. He is a sweet, goofy boy who loves his toys and his favorite treat: chicken jerky. Griff knows when it is time to focus and get to work and is already proving to be an excellent RPD team member.
Officer McNamara has been with RPD since 2016 and has just begun his 25th year in law enforcement. Before joining RPD, he was with the Department of Homeland Security, worked as a police officer in Iowa and served in the Navy. Officer McNamara comes from a long line of law enforcement public servants. His goal has been to become a K-9 officer since he was a kid and he is proud to have the opportunity.
In his short time with RPD, K-9 Griff has already received lots of love from our community. A local couple, Kathy Rall and Larry St. Pierre, generously donated a ballistic vest through Brady’s K-9 Fund. The vest is lightweight and comfortable enough for Griff to wear for long periods of time to protect him while working. It is an expensive piece of equipment and not automatically issued to K-9 Units, and RPD is incredibly grateful for the support. Brady’s K-9 Fund is a wonderful organization started by an 11-year-old boy in Ohio who wanted to make sure K-9s around the country stayed safe while protecting their communities.
When off the clock, Griff relaxes and plays at home with his human and canine family members. The Redmond Police Department is thrilled to have K-9 Griff join us and we’re looking forward to seeing the great work this new K-9 Unit will accomplish.
###
|
