K9 Academy Graduates Honored with CeremonyPhotos/Text By Renee Burrell
Clearwater Police Chief Sid Klein (right) presents K-9 Officer Mike Spitaleri (left) with a certificate of completion while Major, his 16- month-old black German Shepherd from Holland keeps an eye on the crowd. Officer Spitaleri and Major will join Clearwater’s five other canine teams LARGO - Eight K9 officers and their dog partners from law enforcement agencies in Pinellas County graduated in a public ceremony March 5 after completing four months of training from the St. Petersburg Police Department’s Police Canine Academy. One Clearwater and two Largo officers were among those graduating. Several hundred people attended the ceremony which was held during the evening on Largo High School's football field, at 410 Missouri Avenue. The ceremony came on the heels of the City of Largo's dedication of a memorial erected in Largo Central Park that honors past, current and future K9 Teams. The St. Petersburg Police Department hosted the ceremony and Head K9 trainer Frank Campbell, a former Pinellas County Sherriff and lead instructor for the MCTFTK-9 Operations class emceed. The officers and dogs were presented with certificates and pins to commemorate the occasion. Clearwater Officer Michael Spitaleri trained with “Major”. Largo Officers Jeffery C. Rogers Jr. trained with "Fritz" and John Sinni trained with "Jet". The other five teams who also graduated will serve the St Petersburg Police Department and include Officer: Jeremy Krzysiak, Donald Beauvois Jr., Todd Hancock, Jeffery Yaslowitz, and Christopher Ladd. The graduating dogs are of the German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois breeds and are imported from Europe. K-9 Officer-instructor and former national champion, Lazaro Cabrera, from the Police Service Dogs training center in Oxford, FL attended the ceremony. He travels to Europe and selects puppies for law enforcement agencies. He said many of the dogs come from long bloodlines of titled, working police service dogs. A lively show of the canines' obedience, and their abilities to track suspects and detect narcotics and explosives was performed for through skits simulating crime scenes and situations. An impressive demonstration showed how, if during a chase a suspect indicates that he wants to surrender or raises his hands in the air, the dog's handler can command the dog to stop in its tracks. Something that can't be done with bullets, Campbell noted.
St Petersburg Police Department's "Doc". His partner is Officer Todd Hancock
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