Department's new canine cops being trained

By TONY SPINELLI tspinelli@ctpost.com
The Connecticut Post
updated 9:00 p.m. ET, Tues., Feb. 26, 2008

BRIDGEPORT — City police officers better keep a good supply of dog biscuits on hand these days — the department's canine force is growing.

Already believed to be the municipality with the largest canine force in Connecticut, the state's largest city added a sixth German shepherd to the force in December and will begin training another dog soon.

The seventh dog is to be a female Labrador retriever named Brooke, and will specialize in sniffing out narcotics, according to Sgt. Kevin Gilleran, commander of the K-9 Unit.

"She'll detect everything from marijuana to cocaine," Gilleran said Wednesday at the East Side Precinct, where the K-9 Unit is based.

A detective will be selected to be the dog's handler this week and then training will begin. The newest dog on the force is Titus, an 18-month-old male German shepherd who was purchased as a puppy in Czechoslovakia for the department by Eric Grasso of Shelton. "He has a great nose. He's already been out tracking on the streets of Bridgeport," Grasso said. The dog began duty with Gilleran, his handler, in late December.

The other dogs on the force are Rico, handled by Officer Joseph Morales; Sampson, assigned to Officer Agriberto Rodriguez; Jasper, with Officer Keith Ruffin; Recon, partnered with Officer Andy Talavera; and Luger, led by Officer Mark Martocchio.

Gilleran, who has been on the force 11 years, is the new commander of the unit. The unit has specialized training provided by State Police.

"I consider myself fortunate to have the opportunity to supervise six motivated officers, and I am looking forward to providing additional structure and guidance to the unit," Gilleran said in a statement. Tony Spinelli, who covers regional issues for ConnPost.com, can be reached at 330-6361.