For Immediate Release

Friday, Dec. 23, 2016

Contact: Captain Richard Flynn, PIO
Office: 781-316-3907
Cell: 781-844-1224
Email: rflynn@town.arlington.ma.us

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Arlington Police Welcome K-9 Eiko

ARLINGTON – Chief Frederick Ryan is pleased to welcome K-9 Eiko as the newest member of the Arlington Police Department.

Eiko and his handler, Officer Michael Hogan, recently completed a 14-week training program at the Boston Police Canine Academy. The Academy covers several important topics, including tracking, building searches, obedience, agility, apprehension of suspects, protection of the handler and area searches.

Eiko graduated from the Academy on Dec. 30. His first day on the job was Wednesday, Jan. 4.

“We are pleased to welcome Eiko to the department and look forward to furthering his training for the betterment of our patrol unit,” Chief Ryan said. “Additionally, I’d like to thank Officer Hogan for the time he has devoted to K-9 training and handling.”

Although Eiko is only 18-months-old, the German Shepard has already received an extensive amount of training, 10 months of which he completed before joining the department. Additionally, Eiko will undergo a six-week narcotics detection training this year to become a dual-purpose K-9, working both in patrol and providing narcotics detection when needed.

Eiko joins K-9 Dasty, who has been an important member of Arlington Police Department for the past decade working with Officer Hogan. Dasty is a certified Patrol and Narcotics K-9 with numerous apprehensions and narcotics finds. Eiko will work alongside Dasty, eventually taking over the physically demanding aspects of K-9 work when he retires.

The K-9 program is part of Arlington’s community policing strategy, which aims to further engage the public with the police department while providing investigative resources to the patrol and narcotics divisions. As part of this initiative, Officer Hogan continuously performs K-9 demonstrations for local organizations and in schools, which fosters understanding and builds trust between the police department and community at large.

###