The “Han Solo and Chewbacca” of Garrard County.
K-9 Murphy is a 20-month-old Belgian Malinois working for the Garrard County PD in Garrard County, Kentucky. Murphy underwent three months of training with his handler, Officer Troy Willard, before joining the department in March.
Officer Willard bonded with Murphy on their first day of training—“Murphy stole my Mountain Dew bottle, so we had to chase each other down!” Willard explained how well their training went and how the instructor worked to ensure Murphy would be a good fit as his new partner. In fact, from the training experience, Willard joked that Murphy and he became so close that “we’re like Han Solo and Chewbacca.”
While at work Murphy tries to act in a professional manner, but Willard insists that Murphy is “just a typical K-9.” This is exemplified by Murphy’s fear of geese, which often causes quite a stir, as Officer Willard has two ponds in front of his yard. “When the geese come in, Murphy starts running around barking at them,” but once the geese raise their wings, Murphy usually retreats.
“Murphy has a very calm manner,” Officer Willard explains, “yet he also knows when it’s time to work.” Murphy’s chief role in the department is tracking narcotics, including methamphetamines, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana. In fact, Murphy got his first bust, finding marijuana and methamphetamine at a traffic stop, on just the second day of the job. Murphy even helps to run safety checks for the state police, checking for all types of violations, including DUI’s.
The funds from the National Police Dog Foundation were used for both Murphy’s purchase and his training. The National Police Dog Foundation is proud to have contributed to the Garrard County Police Department and looks forward to seeing Murphy continue to thrive.
The purchasing and training of K-9s can be very expensive and most K-9 departments simply do not have the funds they need. The National Police Dog Foundation’s K-9 Purchasing Fund and K-9 Training Fund helped fund the grant to this law enforcement K-9 unit to assist in the costs for the purchasing and the initial training for the K-9. But we need your help. To donate, please click on the button below. The K-9s really need your help.
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