(Fort Wayne, IN)- On Wednesday, December 13, 2023, the Indiana State Police held a ceremony at the Indianapolis Post for the five new ISP Patrol K-9 Handlers and their newly appointed K-9 partners that successfully completed the 14th Indiana State Police K-9 Training School. Trooper Adam Carroll (Fort Wayne Post) and his partner "Knox" were among those graduates.
The Indiana State Police K-9 School is an annual 12-week school held in Indianapolis, with over 480 hours of instruction to include obedience, tracking, locating articles of evidence, apprehension of fighting or fleeing suspects, building searches, narcotics detection, and handler protection. K-9 handlers also receive training in K-9 legal concepts and classes on odor detection theory and tracking situations. Teams train at night and in varying conditions with scenario based training and problem-solving situations for eight to ten hours a day.
Indiana State Police K-9 breeds include German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois, and Dutch Shepherds, all imported from Europe. The K-9s are certified through Dogs for Law Enforcement Organization.
Knox is a German Shepard-mix that came to the ISP from Poland. He is just over a year old. His handler, Trooper Carroll, is a five year veteran of the Indiana State Police and also a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Carroll and Knox will primarily patrol the Huntington County area, however as a Patrol K9 team they regularly respond to calls as needed across the entire Fort Wayne District.
During the graduation ceremony Superintendent Doug Carter and ISP K-9 Master Trainer Sergeant Kevin Waters both presented course certificates and spoke to the troopers, families, and friends in attendance. Together they addressed the level of commitment and sacrifice required of the troopers and their families during the duration of the twelve week course. They spoke of an extremely demanding specialty patrol assignment, one that requires a level of professional commitment more so than a typical daily schedule will accommodate. Long shifts, routine after hours callouts that will always undoubtedly come in after an already long work day, on scheduled days off, holidays, and during special family events; not to mention the continued maintenance, care, and training for both canine and handler that is demanded from this assignment. This level of commitment will be the new norm required of the troopers and their families.
On behalf of Superintendent Carter and the entire ISP Family here at the Fort Wayne Post, we thank Trooper Carroll and his family for their commitment to this new K9 assignment, and we are very excited to welcome Knox to the Double Deuce!
Trooper Adam Carroll and "Knox"