Oakland Police Department seeks grant for K9 program

The Oakland Police Department is asking residents to give their K9 two paws up! OPD is competing for the 2022 Aftermath K9 Grant and needs votes to help support its K9 program.

Hailing from Hungary, K9 Ekko is a nearly 3-year-old Belgian Malinois/German shepherd mix. He was part of a group of five dogs tested and chosen for Oakland, as he displayed the most desirable traits. Ekko is a dual-purpose K9 certified for apprehension and narcotics, having undergone approximately 740 hours of training alongside his partner and handler, Officer Andrew Ricks.

The pair have been working together for nearly a year and have become a great asset to the Oakland Police Department, the town of Oakland and neighboring jurisdictions.

Ekko has been called out in Oakland and surrounding agencies more than 30 times this year and has assisted in two felony apprehensions and 10 felony narcotics arrests.

For more than 10 years, the Aftermath K9 Grant has given back to police departments, sheriff’s offices and first responder units across the country by awarding grants that are used to offset the costs associated with creating, running and maintaining a K9 unit. Since the beginning of the K9 Grant, Aftermath has awarded almost $250,000 in grants to K9 units nationwide.

Voting began Oct. 24. Visit aftermath.com/k9-grant, find K9 Ekko and click to vote. Winners will be announced Nov. 3.