Chief hails retiring police dog

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

To the Editor:

On Feb. 9, 2010 at 7 a.m., the Milford Police Department’s service canine, K9-Zed, retired from active service. Zed was sworn into duty as a member of the Milford Police Department on June 16, 2003. Officer Dean Hardwick has been Zed’s handler since that time. Officer Hardwick is a patrolman first class and a 15 year veteran of the Milford Police Department. He has served as the department’s police service dog handler for the last eight years.

Officer Hardwick has successfully completed two Police Service Dog Patrol Academies and one K-9 Drug Detection Academy as well as participating in hundreds of controlled substance and narcotic searches with K-9 Zed, who is currently certified as a Patrol and Narcotics/Controlled Substance Detection Dog. Zed has completed the State Police Drug Detection Academy and is certified in the detection of marijuana, cocaine and heroin.

K-9 Zed’s services were a very instrumental part of the success in the apprehension of suspects and the detection of illegal contraband during his six-plus years of service to the Town of Milford. Throughout his career K-9 Zed was awarded the Red Cross Life Saving Award, located numerous missing/wanted persons, assisted in hundreds of drug arrests, recovered thousands of dollars worth of firearms, was responsible for the seizure of vehicles and currency and helped the department bond with the community through his presence in the community and various demonstrations sponsored by the department. These accomplishments are all a reflection of the time and dedication put forth by Officer Hardwick and his relationship with K-9 Zed.

On behalf of the Milford Police Department I would like to take this opportunity to thank both Officer Hardwick and his loyal partner, K-9 Zed, for their years of service and dedication. K-9 Zed’s presence will be missed. We always considered him our “partner” and will always hold a special place in our hearts for K-9 ZED. He will happily live out the remainder of his hopefully many days as the beloved pet of Officer Hardwick.

I would also like to thank Sgt. Kevin Furlong for his assistance in securing our new canine, Oryx, for the department and Officer Hardwick for his assistance and efforts to acclimate the new police service dog handler, Officer Palmer, to the rigors of law enforcement canine work. To Officer Hardwick and K-9 Zed, thank you for a job well done.

FREDERICK G. DOUGLAS

Milford

Chief of Police