At the Kenton County Fiscal Court Meeting last week, the Kenton County Police Department formally retired K9 Loki and introduced the newest addition to the force K9 Ronin.
K9 Loki entered full service with his handler Officer Jason Deacon in November of 2014. Officer Deacon received the Meritorious Service Award at the meeting for his outstanding performance as a K9 handler.
“Officer Deacon and the canine unit Loki assisted in local narcotic sweeps, building checks, tracking suspects and many other tasks in Northern Kentucky and whereas officer Deacon and canine Loki’s efforts to continue to keep fellow officers in the Northern Kentucky area safe and whereas officer Deacon and canine Loki you are always at the forefront of encounters with one and often dangerous suspects,” the proclamation said.
Loki has had over 647 total deployments, 381 of which were to assist outside agencies. He’s also been a part of 145 arrests not including suspects that were cited and released.
“I was able to successfully complete a childhood dream of being a K9 handler,” Deacon said. “It also meant I could take the next step in serving the community to try and make it a bit better than it already is. K9 challenged me every day to improve my knowledge of police work, case law, problem-solving, leadership and tactics so that the K9 team and the officers I work with would be successful.”
K9 Loki has been retired to Officer Deacon.
“We are very proud of Officer Deacon and K9 Loki’s contributions to our community over the past six years. Moving forward, the Kenton County Police Department is pleased to continue in its ability to support a premiere police canine program for our region,” Chief Spike Jones said. “Our department and its canine team are most grateful for the support of our fiscal court and the citizens we serve.”
At the meeting, officer Adam Watson was introduced as Ronin’s handler. Ronin, like his predecessors, is considered a dual-purpose dog who can detect both illegal substances and track suspects. K9s can also assist with locating discarded objects, referred to as an article search.
Ronin has been undergoing training since he was selected in November 2021 to prepare him for his role. He has been working with Officer Watson for the past several weeks to finalize transitional training.
“With the aid of K9 Ronin, the Kenton County Police Department will continue to provide excellent service to the community,” Watson said. “I’m looking forward to growing as a team with Ronin.”
