New Police K9 Unit Bishop Donated by Bethel Residents

Bethel Police Department welcomed a new member to the force earlier this month: K9 unit Bishop, who will join the department’s current police dog, Asco, as the latter gets ready to retire.

“Over this past summer the department recognized that our present police dog, ‘Asco,’ handled by Sgt. Durkin, would need to be retired during 2014 as he was now passing 10 years of age, getting old for a German Shepherd Police Dog,” Chief Jeffrey Finch explained. “As we began to plan for a new dog we also realized that we were not financially prepared for the cost, which was now $6,500.”

Local residents and business owners Richard and Beverly Verdi, of Verdi Construction, donated the full price for the new dog and Bishop, a European Czechoslovakia import, was obtained in November.

He has been assigned to officer Adam Cleary, a 5-year veteran of the department, and was introduced to the Police Commission at their December meeting as an official part of the department.

Bishop holds a European Police Dog title, IPO.1/Schutzhund, which serves as basic training but more importantly it speaks to the dog’s temperament and ability to be successful in police work, Finch said.

The dog and handler will remain in training another 8 weeks to refine their ability in protection, apprehension, search, tracking and drug detection before going on patrol.

Afterward, Bishop will be living with Cleary full-time as both his partner and pet.