Dear COBA Members;
On March 25th and 26th, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, and our K-9 Unit hosted the United States Police Canine Association's Region 7 Downstate Detector Dog Trials. This event marked the first time ever that these trials were held in Nassau County and the first time that the Sheriff’s Department hosted the event. The trials were held on the grounds of the Nassau County Fire Service Academy located on Winding Road in Old Bethpage.
The USPCA is the oldest and largest Police Canine Association, with some of the highest standards for police canine certification.
The canine disciplines tested were for accelerent detection, explosive detection, and narcotics detection. The canine teams were required to locate hidden contraband specific to their discipline that were secreted in rooms, vehicles, packages and in crowds, all while ignoring distractions commonly found in the real world. These exercises were conducted in order to provide the most realistic setting and environment to accurately challenge the canine team's performance. USPCA Region 7 consists of canine teams from the New York and Connecticut areas.
Over fifty canine teams participated in the trials including, but not limited to:
Nassau County Sheriff's Department
Nassau County Police Department
Nassau County Fire Marshall's Unit
New York Police Department Counter Terrorism Bureau
New York Police Department Emergency Service Unit
New York Police Department Transit Bureau
New York City Department of Corrections
Fire Department New York Fire Marshall's Unit
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department
Suffolk County Police Department
Suffolk County Sheriff's Office
Suffolk County Fire Marshall's Unit
Orange County Sheriff's Office
Orange County Fire Marshall's Unit
Rockland County Sheriff's Office
City of Newburgh Police Department
COBA is proud to announce that out of all the entrants in this competition, our own K9 Officer Puttman placed 3rd overall; K9 Officer Pierce placed 5th overall and K9 Officer Kelly placed 3rd in the vehicles competition.
All of our K9 Teams received their Certifications.
Great job by all involved!!
See photos of our Team below.
In Unity;
Brian Sullivan, COBA President