By Robert Kanehl
Seven K-9 teams officially graduated this week from the East Hartford K-9 Academy to join their local police departments, two of the teams becoming fully fledged members of the force here in East Hartford.
Officer Juan Rivera and Sergeant Todd Mona will be handling new K-9s Zeus and Scorso (respectively) for the EHPD. Veteran officers, their K9s have officially been retired and they are now paired with new dogs on the local force. The seven K-9 teams which were graduated at a ceremony at the East Hartford Community Cultural Center Tuesday spent the past 12 weeks training under the direction of Officer Mona, a designated instructor for the North American Police Work Dog Association and the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association.
Mona noted that the class has been trained to serve a dual purpose: Firearms and narcotics detection. He added that this was the fifth class from the well-respected East Hartford-based K-9 academy. Besides the local graduating teams, the towns of Bloomfield, Windsor, Newington, Cromwell and East Hampton, Mass. were represented in Tuesday’s East Hartford graduation ceremony.
Police Spokesman Marc Caruso noted that the teams’ achievement is a demonstration of “dedication and hard work by both the handlers and their K-9 partners.” He added that the multitown makeup of the training class will “enhance our region’s public safety.” Amid all the talk of regionalization, local police departments have long relied upon one another to respond to emergencies requiring the keen senses of a trained police search-and-rescue K-9. In October East Hartford K-9 teams quickly located a missing 11-year-old girl in Rocky Hill, to the great relief of parents and authorities.
The graduation service was somewhat bittersweet as it marked the retirement of East Hartford K-9 officers Casus (handled by Mona) and Capo (handled by Rivera).
Casus and Capo were familiar figures town-wide having given numerous public demonstrations of their capabilities. Mona has been with the East Harford police department since 2002, and has been a K-9 officer since 2006. Rivera has been with the local police department for 18 years and is now handling his second dog.
