The K9 Unit consists of two Patrol Generalist (tracking) teams and one Narcotics Detection team.
The purpose of a Generalist K9 Team is to apprehend offenders and/or locate evidence. These K9 Units are currently comprised of Officer Jendrick and his partner Ice and Officer Olinger and his partner Griff.
The purpose of a Narcotics Detection team is just that, locate narcotics that may be hidden. Officer Bond is the handler for K9 Otto who has ability to detect cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and Ecstasy.
Officer Jendrick & Ice
Ice is a German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois mix and was born March 15, 2020 in Hungary. A Pennsylvania kennel specializing in police canines brought him to the United States in 2021, and in June of that year he and Officer Jendrick became a team for the PPD K9 Unit. Ice was given his name as a nod to his predecessor, K9 Maverick.
K9-Griff was born on August 20, 2019 and is a Dutch Shepherd/Belgian Malinois mix. He comes to us from Czech Republic and arrived in October 2020. Officer Olinger and K9-Griff began working together and became a certified team in January 2021. K9-Griff was named after Officer Olinger’s lifetime favorite baseball player, Ken Griffey Jr and their team unit number is “K9-24.”---
Officer Olinger & Griff
Officer Bond & Otto
K9 Otto made his debut in March of 2019 with his partner Officer Bond. K9 Otto is a German Shepard who comes to us courtesy of the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) K9 Program.
K9 Unit History
The Puyallup Police K9 Unit was started in 1982 by then Chief Nash. Donations were received from service clubs and the business community to raise the funding necessary to purchase our first dog, a male full-coat German Shepherd named Xander. Xander was partnered with Officer Buchanan and was cross-trained to not only track and locate suspects but also to detect narcotics. Xander died in 1989 during surgery for pancreatic cancer.
Since the beginning of the K9 Unit in 1982, the Puyallup Police Department has had 20 handler/K9 teams consisting of both generalist/tracking teams and narcotics detection teams.