PORTSMOUTH POLICE DEPARTMENT K-9 UNIT
Meet The Team
K-9 Officer Bill Werner and K-9 Frankie
K-9 Officer Bill Werner was born and raised in Long Island, NY. He received his bachelor’s Degrees in Education and Nursing from Rivier University in Nashua, NH in 2006. Additionally, he has served eleven years in the NH Air National Guard Security Forces and is currently ranked as a Master Sergeant. Officer Werner was hired by Portsmouth PD in 2015 and has since taken on the roles of Field Training Officer, Motor Unit Member, Honor Guard Member, Crime Scene Team Member and Seacoast Emergency Response Team Operator. In 2020, Officer Werner was selected as a K-9 Handler and attended the Boston K-9 Academy with his current partner Frankie.
Frankie is a 4 ½ year old Belgian Malinois. He holds dual certifications in Patrol and Explosive Ordinance Detection (EOD). In order to become a working dog, Frankie, and his handler Officer Bill Werner, attended both a 14-week K-9 Patrol School and a 10-week Explosive Ordinance Detection School put on by the Boston Police K-9 Training Group. Additionally, at the conclusion of each school, Frankie and Officer Werner passed certification tests put on by the North American Police Working Dog Association (NAPWDA) and the Bureau for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). As a part of the Boston Police K-9 Training Group, Frankie and Officer Werner attend multiple training days every month in the Greater Boston Area where they work with the Boston Police K-9 trainers to hone skills in each of their specialty areas. Also, each year, they must pass certification tests put on by national organizations, in each specialty. When not at work, Frankie lives at home with Officer Werner where he enjoys playing fetch, going on walks, and generally spending time with his dad!
Contact Information
Phone: 603-610-7583
Email: wernerb@portsmouthnhpd.gov
K-9 Officer Jack Maloney and K-9 Crash
K-9 Officer Jack Maloney was born and raised in Lowell, MA. He attended the University of Massachusetts Lowell where he received a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. Officer Maloney was hired by Portsmouth PD in 2016. Since being hired, Officer Maloney has become a member of several specialty units to include, Street Crimes, Honor Guard, Motor Unit, and member of the Seacoast Emergency Response Team (SERT). Officer Maloney is also one of the Department’s Field Training Officers. In 2022, Officer Maloney was selected as the next K-9 Handler and was ultimately paired with K9 Crash.
K9 Crash joined the PPD family and K9 unit in the spring of 2023. Crash is a 14 month-year-old, tan, and black Belgian Malinois with a lot of spunk and energy. When Crash gets out of the Cruiser, he is ready to work. K9 Officer Maloney and Crash attended and completed the Boston Police K9 Academy and are currently assigned to the Patrol Division. K9 Officer Maloney and Crash will be attending the Boston Police K9 Narcotics school in the future, working closely with the department's Street Crime Unit.
Contact Information:
Phone: 603-610-7579
Email: jmaloney@portsmouthnhpd.gov
K-9 Coordinator Sergeant Jordan Wells
Sergeant Jordan Wells was born in raised in Exeter, NH. He graduated from Salve Regina University in Rhode Island in 2014 where he obtained his master’s degree in Homeland Security with a concentration in Cybersecurity. In 2013, Sergeant Wells was hired by the Hampton NH Police Department where he worked part-time as a patrol officer. In 2014, Sergeant Wells was hired by the Portsmouth Police Department. He has since been a member of several specialty units including the High Intensity Drug Intervention Team (HIDIT), Motor Unit, Executive Advisor to the Explorer Post and is currently assigned to the Patrol Division as a Street Sergeant. Sergeant Wells took over as the K-9 Coordinator in October of 2022. His responsibilities for the K-9 Unit include logistics, management, and community outreach. If community members are seeking information and/or demonstrations, please feel free to contact him.
Contact Information
Phone: 603-610-7505
Email: wellsj@portsmouthnhpd.gov
About the Unit
The Portsmouth Police Department K-9 Unit was officially established in 1985, immediately becoming an integral asset to the Portsmouth Police Department. There have been over fifteen K-9 Officers and eighteen separate Canines assigned to the Unit since its conception in 1985. Currently, the Police Department has two K-9 Officer Positions with two separate Canines assigned to the Unit. Our handlers receive training at the Boston, MA Police K-9 Academy and are required to be certified annually through the U.S Police Canine Association, North American Police Work Dog Association, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
Community Relations
The K-9 Unit serves several valuable roles within the Department. First and foremost, the K-9 Unit identifies itself as a ‘community-orientated’ police service. In other words, the K-9 Unit strives on developing important connections and partnerships with Portsmouth Residents and Business Owners. Each year the K-9 Unit holds several demonstrations for the community to provide education and insight on Police Working Dogs.
The Unit has enjoyed support from the public and has demonstrated our canines’ abilities to approximately five-hundred-thousand community members and to over five hundred different civic and educational organizations. The K-9 Unit always encourages the public to reach out and connect to learn more about our Canines and the amazing work they do.
What Does the K-9 Unit do?
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Along with establishing community partnerships, the K-9 Unit has been essential in supporting daily patrol objectives and calls for service. Specifically, The K-9 Unit has been used in thousands of calls for service and the seizure of millions of dollars worth of illegal narcotics. Our K-9s are trained to track criminals in a city environment and sniff them out when concealed inside a building during the commission of a crime. They have located lost children and elderly people who have wandered away from their residences. They have provided Presidential Security and Executive Protection for those dignitaries visiting the Portsmouth area. The Unit has been loaned out to the Attorney General's Office, Statewide Drug Task Force, United States Customs, U.S. Immigration, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, United States Coast Guard, and over thirty other Law Enforcement Agencies across New England and Canada.
Our canines also have located discarded evidence, including a firearm discarded in the woods by an escaping criminal suspect: Any item with a trace of human scent on it can potentially be located by our Police K-9s. A shooting in Maine was solved when one of our dogs sniffed out the weapon that was thrown away in the backyard of a Portsmouth home. The area had already been searched for 3 hours by detectives and was not located. It was partially buried in a trash pile when retrieved by the dog.
Public and Officer Safety
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The canines contribute to a safer work environment by providing security and protection not only to the handler but other patrol officers on the road. Deployed as front-line tools, the K-9 Teams are involved in nearly every major or violent crime investigation. The dogs have proven themselves valuable in high-risk encounters and as such, they are placed at higher risk calls more than any other officer within the Department. The dogs are trained to protect the handler and officers on a scene, chase down a fleeing felon upon command and if necessary, give their life to protect others. Remote door opening devices allow the rear door of the cruiser to open when the handler presses the control button attached to the duty belt. The dog can now leave the car and assist the handler who may be fighting with a violent suspect or chase down the burglar who runs away when the police arrive.
Deterrence
The Unit is most proud of its effective deterrence. The mere presence of the dog acts as an effective threat when necessary. Given the option of submitting to the arrest or fighting with the dog, the criminal most often chooses to surrender rather than "having the dog find me" as one burglar put it. These surrenders have a rippling effect because not only is the dog taking the fight out of the criminal but is taking the place of many officers' and the likelihood of injury is substantially decreased. For every fight avoided, the potential lawsuit is avoided, the negative image of the department is lessened, and the officer’s injuries and related loss of time costs are minimized.
Searches
The dogs have searched tens of thousands of rooms and spanned countless miles for escaped felons, suspects, lost people, and runaways. According to search and rescue studies, the trained dog is at least 60% more effective and works seven times faster than a group of eighty-eight people working together searching the same area. Conservative studies show that the Portsmouth K-9s have saved the city hundreds of thousands in search time alone and with 60% more accuracy.
EOD
Frankie is an ‘Explosives Dog,’ an invaluable resource to the City of Portsmouth and surrounding Agencies. Portsmouth is home to an abundance of Critical Infrastructure including hospitals, an airport, and several educational institutions. The Downtown population alone swells in the summertime with thousands of visitors coming to enjoy our beautiful, scenic town. In order to protect our City’s Critical Infrastructure and potential vulnerabilities. Officer Werner and K-9 Frankie went through a vigorous EOD School put on by the Boston K-9 Academy. K-9 Frankie is routinely being used to precautionary sweeps of buildings and parade routes. He has been called out for bomb threats within the City Compact. He has located concealed firearms and weapons. His capabilities are more than incredible and imperative to the safety of our residents and visitors.
Court Room Success
Our conviction rates are high as the Courts have affirmed our dogs as relevant and credible evidentiary tools. In the years of continuous service provided the unit has never been sued, in fact, the New Hampshire Supreme Court specifically cited our K-9 work as proper regarding the use of Drug Detection Dogs in this State. This mission is institutional as it calls upon every segment of the K-9 Units' operation and training.
Moving Forward
Our Police K-9 Unit strives to continue advanced training, constantly preparing for the next law enforcement hurdles and challenges. Each month, each handler completes over sixteen hours of required training. This does not include the hours of individual training completed on duty or at home where the canines reside. The physical and mental fortitude required to be a great handler is immense. We will continue to help the Police Department prevent crime, preserve order, and protect the rights, lives, and property of all people. We are on call 24 hours a day and stand ready to provide community service for many years to come.
Contact Us
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For more information, or to schedule a free public demonstration for your organization, contact K9 Coordinator, Sgt. Jordan Wells at (603) 610-7505 or email wellsj@portsmouthnhpd.gov.
Roll Call of Portsmouth K-9 Teams
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In Memoriam
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K-9 Max suffered fatal injuries during a training exercise in Rollinsford, New Hampshire, on May 22nd, 2019. He is forever in our hearts and minds. RIP K-9 Max
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