K-9 Structure
The K-9 Unit is part of the Field Services Division. Deputy Ian Pegan-Naylor with partner Janke, Deputy Mike Gray with partner Dex, and Deputy Matt Jerome with partner Jax are currently assigned as K-9 officers. Our K-9 units are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, to serve the needs of the citizens and visitors of Grand Traverse County.
Function of K-9 Units
With over 400 calls for service a year, the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office K-9 units are one of the busiest in the State. All three dogs are trained to track and apprehend criminal suspects, locate lost or missing persons, conduct building searches, and can locate stolen property or articles discarded by criminal suspects. Along with these functions each is also trained as a detection dog. Our explosive detection dog, Janke, is used to search for explosives in a wide variety of circumstances. Narcotics detection is assigned to K-9 Dex and Jax. They can search for illegal drugs on traffic stops, drug raids, prison searches, and any other place where drugs can be hidden. All 3 dogs have had hundreds of hours of continuing in service training.
History of K-9 Program
The Grand Traverse County Sheriff's office Canine Unit has had a long and distinguished history that dates back to the 1960's when Sergeant Roy Strait and his partner "Luger" became the first to serve the department. After a very successful career, the department realized what an asset a good K-9 team could be to the department. Since the first team went into service the Sheriff's Office has had a total of 9 dogs with 3 currently in service.
Current Handlers
The current handlers are Deputy Mike Gray, Deputy Matt Jerome, and Deputy Ian Pegan-Naylor, all of which are working to provide a continuum of excellence that has been a standard in Grand Traverse County since the beginning of the K-9 program.