(Lowell, IN) - Northwest Indiana has three new K-9 police teams among the State Police ranks. Three troopers and their K-9 partners recently graduated from the Indiana State Police K-9 Academy in Indianapolis.

 

 

They are:

• Trooper William Carlson and his partner Cooper, a German Shepherd. Carlson is a seven-year veteran of the State Police.
• Trooper Benjamin Beers and his partner Zero, a Belgian Malninois/Shepherd mix. Beers patrols the tollway, and he led the state in O.W.I. arrests in 2021.
• Trooper Logan Hensley and his partner Kai, a German Shepherd. They are also assigned to the Toll Road. Hensley's former partner Zeus passed away last year. Kai is short for Kairos, who was Zeus' youngest son in Greek mythology.

 

The K-9 Academy is 12 weeks long and includes over 400 hours of training for trooper and K-9. They receive training in obedience, tracking, area search, building search, article search, apprehension, and narcotic detection.  The Indiana State Police currently has 34 patrol K-9 teams and six explosive detection K-9 Teams.