Okaloosa County Sheriff

APRIL 2008 - OCSO K-9 UNIT QUALIFIES AT NATIONAL CERTIFICATION TRIALS

IN MEMORY OF REX 1997 - 2007
The Okaloosa County Sheriff Office regrettably announces the passing of Retired Deputy Sheriff Canine Rex on October 20, 2007.

K-9 Rex proudly served the citizens of Okaloosa County beside his life long partner Deputy Charlie Nix. Rex was born in Hungry on 06/10/1997. During his service with the Sheriff's Office he was responsible for the seizure of several kilos of cocaine and thousands of dollars in assets....(U.S. Currency, vehicle and personal property seizures) Rex was rewarded Canine case of the quarter for the USPCA after he "sniffed" out 3 kilos of cocaine and approximately $43,000 in U.S. currency from a storage unit in Ft. Walton Beach in 2002. He was a great partner and friend.

Dogs and their handlers must constantly train to maintain the performance standards for which the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office K-9's are renowned. The Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd breeds have proven to be well-suited for the many tasks that Okaloosa County K-9's must perform. The unit currently has five assigned K-9 two German Shepherds and three Belgian Malinois, "Ruger" handled by Sgt. Bob Dudley, "Flash" handled by Deputy Tim Patterson, "Septon" handled by Deputy Steve Weyer, "Joker" handled by Deputy Ron Kimble, and "Tyson" handled by Deputy Jim Duval. Many people instantly associate "police d

ogs" with drug detection, but that is only one of the many jobs that the K-9's perform well.

The K-9 teams are spread out over various patrol shifts to cover all areas of Okaloosa County . The Okaloosa K-9 unit responds to a variety of calls, including commercial and residential burglary alarms, assist with traffic stops, high risk warrant services, searches for persons or evidence and, of course, narcotics detection. Each of the Okaloosa K-9's is certified in narcotics detection as well as patrol operations. The K-9 units are utilized by the Okaloosa County public schools to help the fight against drugs in Okaloosa county schools. Also, Okaloosa County Sheriff's K-9's are frequently requested by outside agencies for their assistance in both narcotic detection and patrol operations. In the last several years Okaloosa County Sheriff’s K-9’s have been consistently ranked in the top ten both individual and in team events which are sanctioned and judged by the United States Police Canine association.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office would like to give special thanks to Stacey Hillman who purchased 3 bulletproof vests for Okaloosa dogs. Ten year old Stacey Hillman started a non-profit charity in March of 2000 called "Pennies to Protect Police Dogs" in an effort to purchase vests for all police dogs. Since there are not always tax dollars to provide bulletproof vests for the dogs, Stacey relies on donations to provide the vests to law enforcement dogs. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office awarded Stacey at the United States Police Canine Association's National Field Trials in Punta Gorda, Florida for her efforts in purchasing vests for the dogs. Visit Stacey's "Pennies to Protect Police Dogs" website by clicking on the link below. Donations by Visa and MasterCard can be made online at Stacey's web site.

April 2007 - Okaloosa County Sheriff Deputy J. Duval and his K-9 Partner Tyson located 480 Pounds of Marijuana and 52 Kilos (114 Pounds) of Cocaine during a traffic stop in the city of Fort Walton Beach. Deputy Duval and Tyson were called to assist the Fort Walton Beach Street Crimes Unit on a traffic stop. During the stop K-9 Tyson alerted to the presence of illegal narcotics concealed on the vehicle. A search of the vehicle by officers of the Street Crimes Unit located the narcotics concealed within a dummy air tank located in the bed of a utility truck.

Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office
1250 North Eglin Parkway
Shalimar, FL 32579
(850) 651-7410