K-9 Unit

Officer with His CanineThe Holland Department Public Safety (HDPS) K9 Team began in 2001 with the purchase and training of two dogs and handlers. The first two teams were:

  • Officer Paul Moerland with "Grego" 
  • Officer Scott Doza with "Harrand"

Current Teams

The K-9 Team currently consists of four, dual-purpose handler/dog teams: 

  • Officer Joel Reimink with "Ruthie"
  • Officer Jeremy Schoen with "Obi"
  • Officer Ben Reuschel with "Emil"
  • Officer John Rathjen with "West"

The four K-9 Teams are assigned to the four different platoons but train together one day a week concentrating on tracking, narcotic searches, building searches, article searches, and handler protection.  

Media

Retired

Grego 

After seven-plus years of faithful service with Ofc. Moerland, Grego was retired in 2011 as a police service dog.  Ofc. Joe Slenk with Henry was chosen to replace Ofc. Moerland as the next K9 handler.

Harrand 

After 10 years of faithful service, Harrand retired in 2012 and Sgt. Doza took over supervising the K9 Unit.  Ofc. Reimink with Niki replaced him as the new handler.

Henry 

After 8 years of service with Ofc. J. Slenk, Henry - a German Shephard from Budapest Hungary - retired in 2016.  He retired at 10 years old due to medical issues.  Sgt. Slenk then took over supervising the K9 Unit in 2023.

Niki -  After 5 years with Officer Reimink, Niki retired in 2017 due to medical issues.

Flynn - After almost 8 years with of dedicated service with new K9 handler Ofc. Rathjen, "Flynn" was retired in 2023. PSD Flynn was replaced with PSD West.

Passed on

Saro - Served HDPS with new K9  handler Ofc. Schoen for over 8 years as a Dual Purpose K9 working to detect controlled substances and locating wanted and missing persons.  K9 Saro, a German Shepard from the Czech Republic, passed away at 9 years old in November of 2022.