GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Grand Rapids Police Department says K9 Jack retired Saturday after serving the department for eight years.
K9 Jack was certified in narcotics detection and patrol functions.
He and his partner, GRPD Officer Doug Stevens, responded to more than 1,400 requests during his tenure.
The department says K9 Jack’s favorite task was tracking— successfully finding homicide suspects, hidden weapons and stolen property.
“Once we had a person stop us as we were leaving a call. The person asked if my dog’s name was Jack,” Officer Stevens recalled. “When I told him ‘yes,’ he thanked us profusely as a few years prior, Jack had successfully tracked an armed robbery suspect. The person we met was the victim of that crime and remembered Jack’s name from the court proceedings.”
K9 Jack’s ownership was transferred to the Stevens family from the city of Grand Rapids.
The Stevens family says they look forward to spoiling Jack during his retirement.
“We’re not too sure that our other dog is looking forward to sharing treats and games of fetch on a fulltime basis, but we’ll make sure there is plenty of love and attention to go around,” Officer Stevens added.
GRPD plans to announce K9 Jack’s replacement soon.
