Raleigh-Durham International Airport's Law Enforcement department has added a new canine (K-9) team to their ranks. Officer James “Eddie” Truelove and K-9 Officer Kasey are now fully certified by the U.S. Police Canine Association. Officer Truelove had been in law enforcement for more than 15 years before accepting the position of K-9 Officer at RDU. Kasey is a one-year-old, yellow Labrador Retriever mix, who was rescued from the Wake County Animal Shelter.
To prepare for their new job, Truelove and Kasey completed a 15-week course with the Raleigh Police Department to become certified as an explosive detection team. The new K-9 team now joins Officer Carl Nehls and K-9 Trouble in responding to calls for unattended vehicles, unattended bags, TSA assistance at checkpoints as well as routine traffic stops and other law enforcement situations.
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Officer James “Eddie” Truelove
with K-9 Officer Kasey |
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RDU's K-9 teams train daily to improve dog/handler skills, and test every year to become re-certified for explosives detection. The annual re-certification is important because there are always new types of explosives and means of hiding them.
The RDU K-9 teams are on call 24-7 in addition to their hours on-duty. As Officers Truelove and Nehls will tell you, being a K-9 handler is much more than a “9 to 5” job. The dog lives with the officer and becomes a family member instead of just a partner.
RDU K-9 teams are available for community presentations. Call (919) 840-7550 for more information. |
The Airport Authority extends special thanks to the Henderson, NC IAMS/Eukanuba Plant for their efforts to support animal causes. They provide free dog food for RDU's two K-9 teams as well as for the FBI dogs in Raleigh, the State Capitol police dogs, the Henderson police dogs and for Johnston County animal shelters. IAMS corporate mission includes giving back to local communities by supporting animal causes.
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