Texas A&M police welcomes new K9 officer
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The following news release is shared by Texas A&M police:
The Texas A&M University Police Department (UPD) welcomes a new K-9 to the force.
Taps, a 2-year-old German Shepherd, was born in Poland and in June joined her partner, Officer John Browning, in Aggieland.
In June 2023, Officer Browning and K-9 Taps attended the Pacesetter K-9 Academy in Liberty Hill, Texas, where they completed a 120-hour detection course. K-9 Taps was certified as an Explosives Detection and Tracking Dog through the Pacesetter Explosive Detection and Tracking Certification Course.
K9 Taps was graciously gifted to the department by ASCO through a grant from K9s4COPs, a non-profit foundation whose mission is to build a safer future by placing K-9 officers in communities and schools.
The cost of trained K-9s ranges from $15,000 to $45,000, making it unaffordable for many public safety agencies. In 2011, Texas philanthropist Kristi Schiller founded K9s4COPs to fill this gap, ensuring that funding limitations do not compromise the safety of communities. K9s4COPs has placed 300 K-9s across the United States and Paris, France. The dogs trained and placed by K9s4COPs have removed over $5 billion in contraband from the streets and helped protect over 2.5 million students each school year.
The K-9 will be utilized daily on the Texas A&M University campus and in the local community.
K9 Taps will provide support at sporting and special events and to law enforcement agencies in the area.
