Lincoln Police Department Annual Report 2009 - City of Lincoln ...

C ANINE UNIT
The K-9 Unit had a very productive year in 2009. The K-9 Unit was utilized 405 times which included 154 tracks,
157 narcotics searches, 70 building/other searches, and 24 SWAT deployments. The police service dogs were
responsible for 141 misdemeanor arrests, 59 felony arrests, and they located one suicidal person. The narcotics
that the police service dogs located had a street value over $35,000 and they also located and recovered over
$66,000 in currency.
In March of 2009, a masked man wearing latex gloves grabbed an employee of Casey’s General Store from
behind as she arrived for work and robbed and sexually assaulted her. The person responsible for the sexual
assault and robbery fled from the store on foot. Officer Jeff Urkevich and Police Service Dog, Jake, tracked the
individual from the store for several blocks and located the cash stolen during the robbery and a condom that was
used during the sexual assault. The condom was tested and the DNA from the victim and the person responsible
were found on the condom. This key piece of evidence led to the arrest and conviction of Armon Dixon for first
degree sexual assault and armed robbery.
In 2009, the K-9 Unit was given approval to add one additional K-9. Many qualified candidates put in the coveted
position and after an extensive selection process Officer Nikki Loos was selected to become the newest member
of the K-9 unit. In October K-9 Officer John Clarke and Officer Loos traveled to New Market, Alabama to select
a police service dog for Officer Loos. The officers put several K-9s through selections tests and ultimately
selected “Dexter”, a two year old male Belgian Malinois, to be Officer Loos’ partner. In the fall, Officer Loos and
Dexter attended an 11 week training session at the Nebraska State Patrol’s Training Center. Dexter is the 44 th
dog to serve in the Lincoln Police Department’s K-9 Unit.
H ANDLER
O FFICER JOHN CLARKE
O FFICER TYLER DEAN
O FFICER JEFF URKEVICH
O FFICER CHRIS VOLLMER
O FFICER NIKKI LOOS
C ANINE
BEERSIE-REMO
KONY
JAKE
BRIX
DEXTER
Courtesy Photo
ERIC GREGORY/
Lincoln Journal Star