Hamilton police are saying goodbye to a member of the K-9 unit Friday as the force’s longest serving police dog heads into retirement.
Jake has been serving with the force since 2014 and has responded to between 450 to 500 calls each year.
He’s helped to recover 63 guns and over $500,000 in cash, as well as contributing to countless arrests and recovering drugs.
With his final shift Thursday, Hamilton police wanted to recognize his work as they presented Jake with a certificate and a bed.
His handler says that one of Jake’s greatest strengths was recovering money.
“He is a special dog. There’s not many dogs that, you know, go through a whole 10 year career. It’s generally five to seven and then it’s kind of the end of the career. I’ve been very lucky.” says his handler, Kevin Willson.
“He’s been healthy from day one and like I said earlier, I’m not the brains of this team. He’s definitely the brains and the talent and I tell people that if this dog could have typed reports and driven a vehicle, I would have been back on patrol about eight years ago. I got very lucky with his abilities.”
Jake will officially be off duty and officially retired as of 4 a.m. on Friday.
