Died – 12/26/18
Handler – Lt. Steven Bose
Waterloo Police announce death of K-9 officer Mitch
An award-winning retired K-9 officer died Wednesday, according to the Waterloo Police Department. Mitch, a 10-year-old German shepherd trained as a K-9 narcotics and patrol officer, died on the day after Christmas at the home of Lt. Steven Bose, where he had lived since retiring from the force Aug. 12, 2015, according to the department. The department said Mitch died “of old age.” Mitch was born Feb. 5, 2008, in the Netherlands, imported to the United States, trained as a dual-purpose K-9 officer for narcotics and patrol, and partnered with Bose in the fall of 2009, according to the department.Both Bose and Mitch were assigned to patrol as well as the Violent Crime Apprehension Team. “He located large quantity of narcotics and cash finds,” the department told The Courier. “He conducted several tracks of fleeing suspects and located (many) of them.” In 2012 and again in 2013, Mitch and three other Waterloo Police K-9s were awarded the U.S. Police Canine Association Narcotics Detection Team Champions. “Thank you for your years of service and dedication to the City of Waterloo, Mitch,” the department said on its K9 Unit Facebook page Thursday morning. “May you rest easy.”