The Pasco Sheriff’s Office (PSO) announced the addition of three new K-9s to its ranks —K-9 Blake, K-9 Ranger and K-9 Ripp.
The new teams recently completed the PSO’s K-9 patrol school, where they were trained in tracking, building searches, area searches, apprehensions and locating articles. These valuable skills will help deputies on a variety of calls, such as locating missing people and finding dangerous narcotics.
K-9 Blake is a German shepherd born in Slovakia on Aug. 28, 2020. He is assigned to the Highway Interdiction Team, where he assists deputies to stop the trafficking of illegal drugs on major Pasco roadways. Blake is partnered with Dep. Ryan Jackson, who started with the PSO in 2014 and became a member of the SWAT team in 2017.
K-9 Ranger is a Belgian Malinois born in the Czech Republic on June 6, 2020. He is certified in patrol and explosives detection, and is a member of the SWAT team. Ranger’s partner is Dep. Justin Case, who joined the PSO as a patrol deputy in 2021, and has been a member of the unified SWAT team since its inception.
K-9 Ripp is a Dutch shepherd born in the Netherlands on June 15, 2020. He is a patrol K-9 and will soon start work on his certification for narcotics detection. Ripp’s partner is Dep. Jeremie Garcia, who joined the PSO in 2014 as a patrol deputy and was assigned to the K-9 Unit in 2017.
K-9 teams would not be possible without the generous donations of community members. Funds to purchase, train and equip every PSO K-9 come from these community donations; no taxpayer dollars are used.
