BARNSTABLE K-9 UNIT
The Barnstable Police K-9 Unit was established by Chief Albert Hinkley in 1976 and has operated continuously for over 40 years. This makes the Barnstable K-9 Unit one of the oldest in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Since its inception, there have been 23 K-9’s handled by 11 K-9 officers or handlers. The breeds of dogs utilized have been German Shepherd, Rottweiler, Belgian Malinois, Dutch Shepherd, Golden Retriever and Black Labrador Retriever.Currently, there is one K-9 patrol team and new one drug team who graduated from the K-9 Police Academy in 2016. Together our K-9 Teams service over three hundred calls per year in the Town of Barnstable as well as providing mutual aide throughout Barnstable County, (Cape Cod) and as far away as Boston.
Sergeant Troy Perry (Unit Commander)
Sergeant Perry is the K-9 unit commander. Sergeant Perry is a veteran Barnstable Police Officer and served as a K-9 handler in the unit from 2001-2015. He was promoted to Sergeant in 2016 and assigned to become the new K-9 Unit commander replacing Sergeant Mark Mellyn who was promoted to Lieutenant. With 14 years experience as a dog handler, he was the perfect choice to lead the K-9 Unit. His former partner K-9 Izzo retired in 2015 and is enjoying his retirement living with Sergeant Perry and his family. During his time with the unit as a handler Sergeant Perry had one other partner K-9 Ari. Both of his partners were Patrol Dogs.
Officer Jeffrey Jackson & K-9 Rokko (Patrol Team)
Officer Jeffrey Jackson is a veteran Barnstable Police Officer who joined the department in 1998. Officer Jackson joined the K-9 Unit in 2008. Before joining the Barnstable Police Department, Officer Jackson was a K-9 handler in the U.S Air Force. K-9 Rokko is a single purpose patrol dog who is trained in the apprehension of suspects as well as locating evidence and missing people.
K-9 Elvis
Elvis joined the K-9 Unit in 2008. Elvis is 10 year old German Shepherd that was imported from a breeder in Slovakia who specializes in breeding dogs for police work. K-9 Elvis has been officer Jeffrey Jackson’s partner his entire time with the unit. Elvis retired in July of 2017, after 10 years of service.
Officer Kevin Fullum & K-9 Voney (Drug Team)
Officer Fullum joined the K-9 Unit in 2016 and he and his partner K-9 Voney have graduated from the K-9 Police Academy together as a team. K-9 Voney is a Black Labrador Retriever born in 2014. They are the Barnstable Police Department’s latest addition in the fight against the exploding drug abuse epidemic. As a K-9 Drug Team, Officer Fullem and K-9 Voney’s duties are different that patrol dogs. Rather than aggressively chasing down fleeing suspects, drug dogs use their hyper-sensitive noses to detect any trace of narcotics on persons, vehicles, buildings or anywhere else drugs may be hidden. They are trained to simply sit and passively indicate the location of the drugs by placing their nose near the source. Drug detection K-9s are social and not trained to apprehend.