The Windsor Police Service is adding two new members to its K9 Unit and preparing to say goodbye to another after eight years of service.
During a news conference Wednesday, the service announced that Link, a 19-month-old Belgian Malinois originally from Hungary, will be joining the unit and partnered with Constable Garret Crichton.
Also joining the unit is Ghost, a 17-month-old German Shepherd originally from Holland, who will be partnered with Constable Ken Meloche.
The service says that Hasko was involved in countless calls for service over the years, including one apprehension that resulted in a stab wound to his head.
K9 Unit Team Trainer Constable Lance Montigny says the K9 Unit is invaluable to the police service.
"To date, we don't have an instrument that does what a dog does—that smells 10,000 times better than a human," he says. "Once there's a technology that does it, maybe I'll be out of business. Until then we're still in business, tracking down suspects and using the wind and using their nose as an officer safety tool and a search tool and an apprehension tool."
Windsor Police K9 Unit member Garret Crichton works with new police service dog, Link, at the Windsor Police training facility. @WindsorPolice @AM800CKLW pic.twitter.com/3apV8lJkIB
— Rusty Thomson (@RustyThomson800) September 4, 2024
Montigny says these dogs, which each cost $8,000 to $10,000 U.S., receive constant training.
"Like a whole cost analysis, I'm saying you're doing pretty well. These dogs don't have vacation time; they don't call in sick, and they're just roaring to get to work," he says.
Montigny says there are several factors that separate police service dogs from regular dogs.
"It's their courage. It's their ability to shut everything out around them and stay focused on a task. These dogs hear gunfire; nothing moves them. They hear explosives; nothing moves them. The only thing that gets them moving is work," he says.
The newest dogs to join the K9 Unit have each completed a 15-week intensive training course and will now have the skills to be deployed in a number of ways, including apprehending suspects, searching for missing people, and detecting illegal narcotics and explosives.
On Sept. 1, Ghost was involved in one of his first actions as he helped track down two suspects after police were called to the scene of a break-in at a business in the 3900 block of Walker Road in Windsor.