Currently, the Rock Island Police Department has two K-9 teams. Officer Ryan DeRudder partners with K-9 Jago and Officer Matthew Franks partners with K-9 Rino. The K-9’s are both Belgian Malinois who are assigned only one handler and live with the officer at his home. Each officer is responsible for the care and maintenance of his K-9.

Each Canine Team is trained as “all purpose” utility teams in:

• Obedience
• Tracking
• Article Searches
• Area Searches
• Building Searches
• Narcotics Detection
• Fugitive Apprehension
• Officer Safety

K-9 Training
Each canine and handler team undergoes twelve weeks of initial training. One day a month is spent at a structured training session with other local police agencies to improve upon their skills. The handlers also spend countless hours of their own time working with their K-9’s to master each task.

Demonstrations
Along with patrol duties, the canine teams also give canine demonstrations for many different groups and organizations. To request a canine demonstration Email the canine supervisor, Sergeant Benjamin Smith.