Law enforcement across Nebraska come together for procession of York County K9 killed in crash - WOWT
OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - York County Sheriff officials tell 6 News Nitro II was a very special K9 officer.
Nitro II replaced Nitro I.
York County Sheriff Deputy Sergent Brad Melby and his partner Tony Howe trained the first K9, years later Sgt. Melby lost his partner in a car crash.
“It’s been almost 10 years since Tony passed but his wife Stephanie and her boys donated the money so we could go buy Nitro II that was all put in the paper and it was a big ordeal for the town that this was donated, it’s a very well known family in town,” said Sgt. Melby.
All K9 handlers will tell you their dogs are special, they train hard and work hard to protect law enforcement officers and the community.
When one of them dies in the line of duty or dies from old age, law enforcement comes together.
Police and sheriff departments from across Nebraska all came together to escort Nitro II back home to York. The K9 was killed in the line of duty.
Many of the officers here are K9 handlers themselves and the long line of supporters shows how valuable K9s are to law enforcement and their communities.
Just like any other law enforcement officers, K9s have to go through intense training before becoming part of the department.
“They go through approximately six weeks of narcotics training before they become certified then about another six weeks of training before they become patrol certified.”
Sergent Eric Olson is with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department. He’s been a K9 handler for about seven years, now he’s working with Sheba, a three-year-old German Shepard.
“Once we get to basic certification the training doesn’t stop there it continues, we continue to challenge the dog, they continue to grow and to learn,” said Olson.
Sheba and Sgt. Olson will spend a lot of time with each other. Sheba is an important part of the Douglas County team.
“They’re extremely valuable for the protection of the citizens and the officers on the street and these dogs go home with us at the end of the day lot of times they live amongst our families.”
Sgt. Olson and all law enforcement are saddened by the death of two people in last week’s tragic crash. they do remember and honor Hampton Public School teacher and coach Kyle Ediger, an innocent bystander who was killed in the crash.
“Just to show the support to the department and then top the civilian’s life that was lost, this is also for him too also just important to get out here and support,” said Grady Gardner, Hastings Police Department.
Coming together to support each other through the tough times is important for law enforcement officers and their K9 partners.
“We would do this with any officer, our K9s are part of our department and they are considered officers within our department,” said Melby.
When one of the K9 officers falls, it can really hurt.
“These dogs are valuable not just to the handler but to the community as a whole to the departments and when one of them is lost it’s tragic.”
The York County Sheriff’s Department plans to replace Nitro II in the near future.
Joseph Stolenbergy, 43, is accused of stealing the K9 patrol car and killing coach Ediger after crashing into his car.
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source: https://www.wowt.com/2022/02/15/law-enforcement-across-nebraska-come-together-procession-york-county-k9-killed-crash/
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