Another very busy week for Massachusetts State Police K9s and their human partners

“As the Massachusetts State Police continue to perform specialized duties related to the state’s response to the Coronavirus emergency, traditional police work continues because crime doesn’t stop.

Last week was another busy one for the Massachusetts State Police K9 Unit, which deployed on 68 missions. MSP K9 teams responded to 25 incidents and operations handled primarily by State Police, and assisted local police departments around the state on 43 additional calls.

Missions included 26 patrol calls, six drug sniffs, one scent search for a gun and one other for a cadaver. Another mission was a search for a potentially suicidal person. Nine of the calls involved suspects reported to be armed, all with handguns.

Massachusetts State Police photo.

Three examples of the K9 Unit’s work last week follow.

On the evening of April 15, MSP K9 Trooper Bill McSweeney observed a vehicle that had been involved in a shooting in Brockton. The suspect vehicle attempted to strike Trooper McSweeney’s cruiser and then fled into Stoughton with the Trooper in pursuit. The suspect stopped in Stoughton, got out of the vehicle, and continued to flee on foot. Trooper McSweeney deployed his partner Scully, who tracked the suspect through a swamp and pursued him out to the other side, where the suspect was apprehended by a Trooper on the perimeter.

On April 18, in the pre-dawn hours, K9 Trooper Dan Purtell responded to a call for a wrong-way driver on Route 3 in Burlington. The suspect, an alleged drunk driver, crashed and fled on foot. Trooper Purtell and his partner Neko tracked the suspect for about three miles but did not locate him. Later that morning, still well before daylight, Burlington officers spotted a person matching a description of the wrong-way driver in Cambridge Street.

Massachusetts State Police photo.

Upon seeing the officers the suspect ran into nearby woods. Trooper Purtell and Neko responded to the point where he was last seen: Neko acquired a track and pulled behind a building and then into the wooded area. Well inside the woods, Neko suddenly turned left and displayed a proximity alert. Then, Trooper Purtell observed the suspect on the ground. After initially ignoring orders to surrender or face apprehension by Neko, the suspect wisely complied, was taken into custody, and was charged with operating under the influence, his fourth OUI offense.

Another pre-dawn mission was fulfilled that same morning, far across the state, when Trooper Greg Valentine responded to help Westfield Police search for a wanted suspect who was on foot. Trooper Valentine deployed his partner Kyber at the place where the fleeing suspect was last seen. Kyber acquired a track in a backyard and pulled across the street and eventually came to a six-foot high fence. Kyber began to bark and jump at the fence. The search team made its way around the fence and the suspect was located and apprehended by a perimeter officer.”