The Augusta County Sheriff’s Office (K9) Unit was originally formed in 1971 and consisted of one Police Service Dog (PSD), “King”. This dog was handled by Deputy Eddie Meeks and unfortunately “King” was shot and killed in the line of duty. The current (K9) Unit was reestablished in 2001 with Police Service Dog (PSD), “Dezeu” and Deputy Brad Young.

Police Service Dogs have many responsibilities. Their expertise includes tracking, agility, article search, building search, open search, chase and apprehension, and handler protection. Police Service Dogs also assist the SWAT team at tactical calls. They are utilized to provide containment and to assist our SWAT Team. Our handlers are on call twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. All handlers must complete an extensive training course where the handler and dog learn as a team. These are highly-trained and assertive animals, however, they are able to interact with the public. The Canine Unit is responsible for numerous public demonstrations each year. The teams attend public functions and school presentations. These demonstrations allow us to showcase the abilities of our canine partners and inform the public of their importance.

The Sheriff's Office currently has two canine teams.

 Deputy Dylan Johnson and K9 Arko

Deputy Johnson

Started LE career July 2013 

Has been a  K9 handler for 1 year

Partnered With K9 Arko In Dec of 2018

Arko

German Shepherd born in Holland on June 10, 2015

12 weeks of training together as a team at Rivanna K9 in Palmyra VA

Trained in Article Searching, narcotics, tracking and Apprehension

Routinely train together as a team

 Deputy Dennis Reynolds and K-9 Rico

Deputy Reynolds

Started LE career in 2009

Partnered with Rico in January 2019

 Rico

Rico is a 2 year old Belgian Malinois that was born in Holland

He is a dual purpose working dog trained in Narcotic Detection and Apprehension to include tracking

Deputy Reynolds and Rico also attended a 12 week course together at Rivanna K9

Rico lives at home with Deputy Reynolds and his family