K9 Niko – Prince William County, Virginia

K9 Niko – Prince William County, Virginia
Died 8/31/19

Handler – Sgt. Mike Szalach

Prince William County police mourn the death of K9 Officer Niko

Prince William County police are mourning the death of K9 Officer Niko on Aug. 31. Niko, an 8-year-old German shepherd, recently suffering from a debilitating spinal condition. “He passed peacefully, with his partner, Sgt. Mike Szalach, and family by his side,” the police department said in a Facebook post. K9 Niko was born in Holland on June 18, 2011 and acquired by Prince William County Police Department from Shallow Creek Kennels on Aug. 21, 2012. K9 Niko and Sgt. Szalach then earned team certifications in Police Patrol and EOD Detection. He won Top Dog Award during Basic K9 School, Novice 1st Place during USPCA Patrol Dog 1 Trials (2013), and the USPCA Triple Crown (2018) in Tracking, Patrol Dog 1 Trials, and Explosives Detection. K9 Niko was responsible for a multitude of arrests, resulting from some lengthy K9 tracks. A few of his highlights include: tracking and apprehending two gunmen in the Coverstone area, after they shot a person multiple times and recovering both handguns in the process; he conducted multiple tracks that led to various groups of suspects hiding, leading to multiple arrests for robbery, stolen auto, etc.; he caught a serial burglar in Lakeridge, which cleared multiple cases, and the list seems never-ending. “I think the best feature of Niko was his ability to be a police dog at work while being all business, but once we broke the threshold to our home, he was a beloved member of the family and loyal to the very end,” Szalach said. Rest in peace K9 Niko.

Tags

Submitted By Jim Cortina

James A. Cortina has been involved with police dogs since 1972 and currently on the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. Jim has been appointed as Treasurer since its inception in 1991. Jim is one of the charter members of the C.P.W.D.A. organization. Since 1975 he has been a certified professional dog trainer and received his Master Trainer Certification in 1985. During his career he has provided armed K-9 strike crowd control for security agencies in Connecticut and out of state security companies. In conjunction with other members of the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. Board of Directors, he helped to draft Connecticut Statute 53-247(e) "Intentional Injury or Killing of Police K-9" which was passed by the Senate in 1993 and also assisted in implementing the prestigious Daniel Wasson Memorial K-9 Award in 1992. In 1993 he helped coordinate the North American Police Work Dog Association Nationals in New London, Connecticut. He was appointed Training Director for the New London County Work Dog Association from 1985-1987. He performed decoy work for Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc. in police K-9 demonstrations, trained several local police department canines, and coordinated training workshops for out-of-state police departments. He participated in the United States Police K-9 Association Trials in Croton on Hudson, New York in 1985 as a decoy. He is an avid photographer and received photography awards in 1989, 1990, and 1991 and currently takes photographs for the Connecticut Police Work Dog Association Inc.
| Old Memorials | Site Map
Copyright © 1973 - 2024 Louise Krause Memorials to Fallen K-9's Hosted By PC-GEEK Site Maintained BY Jim Cortina