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Died – 8/20/22
K-9 With Will County Forest Preserve PD Dies 2 Years After Retiring
In the eight years Jullo served the department, he was an ambassador, sniffed out a burglar and starred in educational videos. The Forest Preserve District of Will County Police Department said its final farewell to Jullo, a retired K-9 that served the department for eight years before retiring in 2020.The department held an end-of-watch ceremony for the 10-year-old German shepherd Saturday. When Jullo first started with the department, he replaced the Forest Preserve District’s first K-9, Rosie Redtracker, a bloodhound. While on duty, Jullo was an ambassador, sniffed out a burglar and starred in educational videos. His work went beyond the Forest Preserve Police Department to assist neighboring police departments looking for illegal drugs. Officials said he tracked a bank forgery suspect in Mokena and assisted in several drug arrests.Jullo’s resume also includes appearing beside his handler, former Forest Preserve Police Sergeant Dean Klier, in a “Don’t Be A Jerk” video series designed to persuade dog owners to follow the rules while using forest preserves. He retired two years ago due to severe arthritis and lived with Klier, who now works for the Plainfield Police Department. Despite his retirement, he was still part of the Forest Preserve family, Forest Preserve Deputy Chief David Barrios Jr. said.The dog was surrounded by family, friends and neighbors Saturday.”We all huddled in the garage as the rain came on and off,” Tracy Chapman, the Forest Preserve’s deputy director and public service administrator, said in a statement. “The residential street was lined with squad cars with their lights on. There were about 16 officers there and 10 other K-9s.”In his final hours, Jullo still found two hidden items as he was trained to do, Will County Forest Preserve District staff said.”Dean and other handlers verbally praised Jullo as he got his last reward,” Chapman said. “Dean, his two daughters and his wife, Lauren, were visibly upset as Dean carried Jullo into the awaiting veterinary ambulance. His wife and daughters joined him in the back of the ambulance. The officers and their K-9s waited silently in two lines in the steady rain, as Jullo was put to rest.”
