Awards
Since the 2009 start of La Porte Police Department’s (LPPD) K-9 program, the K-9 teams have remained quite active. Narcotic-related arrests and other patrol assistance endeavors have led the division to become an invaluable resource for the agency. In order to keep their skills honed, LPPD K-9 teams train regularly and attend the National Narcotic Detector Dog Association (NNDDA)’s conference each year.
The 2018 NNDDA conference culminated in various practical narcotic dog competitions. More than 90 K-9 teams from around the country participated in the 2018 competition. As in previous years, a wide range of training and skills competitions were evaluated for each K-9 team, when the event was concluded, LPPD’s K-9 Teams proved themselves to be a force to be reckoned with for yet another year.
Among the 90 teams, La Porte Officer Barry Groaning and canine partner “Huligan”, placed 2nd overall. La Porte Officer Michael Harness and canine partner “Sylvester” took 8th overall giving LPPD two top-ten finishes. Huligan was awarded the Bark, Bandit, Trooper for the single best score of all K-9s over five years old. Finally, the LPPD received first place, Top Team Award for the highest-scoring pair of K-9 Teams from a single agency.
K9 Officer Sylvester retired in January of 2019, followed by K9 Officer Huligan in February 2021.
