Sheriff David Israel of the Kalkaska County Sheriff's Office is proud to announce the addition of a Sheriff's Office K-9 Unit. As of 2009,the Kalkaska Sheriff's Office was without the assistance of a K-9 unit. This Office recognized that conducting an effective investigation of criminal offenses often requires the use of specialized tools and techniques. Because of a K-9's superior sense of smell and hearing, this new K-9 Unit will be an invaluable tool in assisting with daily patrol activities and also with specialized investigations being conducted in and around Kalkaska County. Through the assistance of a Federal Narcotics Enforcement Grant and local donations,the Sheriff's Office was able to start a K-9 Unit. The K-9 Unit currently consists of one K-9 Team. The Kalkaska Sheriff's Office then conducted an extensive investigation of Kennels located in Michigan and selected Mid-Michigan Kennels located in Eaton Rapids Michigan for both the purchase of the K-9 Dog and training of the K-9 Team.

K-9 Deputy Roslan (pronounced Rus-lan), is a male German Shepherd who was born in Poland on 02-18-2008 and Imported to the United States in late June 2009. K-9 Deputy Roslan was then selected by members of the Sheriff's Office and paired together with his Handler Deputy Kevin Schaub on September 15th 2009. The K-9 Team started the 200 hour Basic K-9 Handler's course at Mid-Michigan Kennels on September 28th. They graduated on October 29th after obtaining their certification as a Dual Purpose Patrol and Narcotics Detection K-9 Team. During this time the K-9 Team also became members of the International Police Working Dog Association (IPWDA) and received their IPWDA certifications in both Narcotics Detection and Tracking. The K-9 Team's certifications will be maintained with yearly re-certification and testing. This will be achieved and performance standards will be exceeded with extensive monthly in service training.

The Team began patrolling Kalkaska County together the following day on October 30th 2009. This K-9 Unit is now on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year to serve the citizens and visitors of Kalkaska County.

The Sheriff's Office K-9 Team is trained in and is currently assigned to specialized investigations in the following areas:
*Tracking (for missing persons, lost children and criminal suspects)
*Open Area Searches (for missing persons, lost children and criminal suspects)
*Narcotics Detection (in vehicles, open areas, buildings and packages)
*Suspect Apprehension
*Handler Protection
*Article Searches for Evidence
*Building Searches (criminal suspects)
*The Sheriff's Office K-9 Team is also available for both School and public demonstrations by request.

NOTE: For more information or to request a demonstration please contact Deputy Kevin Schaub by e-mail or contact the Sheriff's Administrative Offices Monday-Friday between 8am-4pm at (231)258-8686 ext: 403

SUPPORT:
The Kalkaska County Sheriff's Office extends sincere gratitude to each of the companies/individuals listed below for their donations to our K-9 Unit. These contributors are a true testament of "committment to excellence and support to our commmunity".

The Nutro Company has donated "High Energy Nutro Natural Choice Premium Dog Food" for the entire service life of our K-9 "Roslan". We are extremely pleased with the quality, nutrition and health benefits of this product.

In these tough economic times, we are grateful to be part of The Nutro Company's feeding Program. We look forward to a long partnership with this company and we highly recommend this program to all other law enforcement K-9 Units.

Kevin Schaub & Roslan, Kalkaska County Sheriff's Office
Travis Horn & Hess, Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office
Kurt Bazner & Zuk, Traverse City Police Department

The Cornillie Company donated over $500.00 in concrete for the construction of a kennel for "Roslan". We are extremely grateful for this donation which was a huge cost savings to our department.
 

GBK Construction donated materials and more than 30 hours of labor in the construction of the kennel for "Roslan". This contribution was a huge cost savings to our department.
 

Michigan Wireline Service
We thank this company for their donation of $250.00. This donation will be put to great use in the care and upkeep of "Roslan".

Susie McClanaghan
Susan provided the ballistic K-9 vest for "Roslan". We are grateful for this donation and Susan's continued comittment to provide superior protection to not only to "Roslan" but to other K-9 units, as well.