MPD K-9 Unit
The Maricopa Police K-9 Unit is currently staffed by one officer, Melissa Drane and a police dog, Kasper.
Kasper is a Belgian Malinois (pronounced: ‘mal-in-wa’). Malinois are described as active, friendly, protective, hard working and may be excessively exuberant. All of these characteristics closely describe Kasper.
In many European countries, as well as in the United States, Canada and Australia, the Malinois is bred primarily as a working dog for personal protection, detection, police work, search and rescue, and sports. The United States Secret Service & Royal Australian Air Force uses the breed exclusively. Kasper was hand picked by members of the Maricopa Police Department from a police dog training kennel in California and he has quickly become a valued member of the Department.
Kasper and Ofc. Drane have trained hard together and are currently patrolling the streets of Maricopa assisting officers with a variety of patrol tasks. Kasper is trained in patrol apprehension and cross trained for narcotic detection.