The Denver Police Department’s newest employees are social and confident and love to work. Hershey, a 2-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever, and Kazam, a 1-year-old Belgian Malinois, specialize in sniffing out explosives, bombs and shell casings, the department announced.
Police used a vendor to search the globe and find dogs with the right temperament to stay focused while working in a crowded city, said technician Jeff Meyer, who is Hershey’s handler.
“They have to love looking for long periods of time,” Meyer said.
Kazam’s handler is technician Frank Vessa. Kazam came to Denver after being trained with the Dutch military.
The dogs will live with the officers and their families.
The department’s commanders decided the K9 unit needed to expand with a growing city, Meyer said. The department needed dogs that were not assigned to Denver International Airport, which is increasingly busy, he said.
The dogs were purchased with a grant to the Denver Police Foundation from Wells Fargo.
