Goshen, N.Y. - The Orange County Sheriff’s Office hosted its K-9 Academy graduation on Friday, June 29th at its K-9 training facility in Montgomery.

Orange County Sheriff Carl E. DuBois, Chairman of the Legislature Steve Brescia and several local law enforcement officials attended the event. The graduates were Sergeant Dustin Palen from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and his K-9 Skip, Deputy Mike Muller from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and his K-9 Maverick, Deputy Chris Irwin from the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office and his K-9 Kato, City of Middletown Police Department Officer Jordan McInerney and his K-9 Storm and Town of Kent (Putnam County) Police Officer Corey Ashe and his K-9 Maverick.

“This training provided our office with an opportunity to work with other agencies, which builds relationships,” DuBois said. “These graduates will be assets to their police departments and the communities that they serve. I’m proud of the hard work that my deputies perform and I congratulate these K-9 teams on their graduation.”

The K-9’s and their handlers were trained by Palen. The 16-week training included instruction on obedience, tracking, agility, suspect searches, apprehension techniques and handler protection.

“We are all proud of the wonderful work that the Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s K-9 unit performs on a daily basis,” Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus said. “Sergeant Palen did a superb job representing the Sheriff’s Office and preparing the K-9’s and their handlers for patrol operations. I will continue to vigorously support law enforcement and I wish all of these K-9 teams safe and successful partnerships.”

For more information, contact Justin Rodriguez, Assistant to the County Executive for Communications and Media Relations at 845.291.3255 or jrodriguez@orangecountygov.com.

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