K9 Sally Joins Police Department's Explosive Detection Unit

Release, Town of Leesburg:

The Leesburg Police Department is pleased to announce that our newest member, K9 “Sally” has officially began her tour of duty for the Town of Leesburg with her handler, Officer Jessi Shields. K9 Sally is a 2 year-old English Spaniel who is trained and certified in Explosive Ordinance Detection.

The Leesburg Police Department was one of five law enforcement agencies that were awarded an Explosive Ordinance Detection dog from a Northern Virginia Emergency Response System (NVERS) grant. Other law enforcement agencies receiving canines from the grant were the Virginia State Police, Manassas Park Police Department, George Mason University Police Department, and the Herndon Police Department.

“Today’s public safety challenges require an ever changing set of skills and capabilities; one of which is the ability to rapidly identify explosive devices. As a result of this NVERS project and the capabilities for Officer Shields and Sally, LPD now has the capability for explosive odor detection which will make our community safer” stated Chief of Police Joseph Price.

While K9 Sally was pre-EOD certified, Officer Shields and Sally recently completed a 5-week intensive certification course held in various locations to include the Loudoun County and Leesburg area. The purpose of this course was for the familiarization of the handler to the canine as well as achieving the certifications necessary to operate in that capacity.

Officer Shields and K9 Sally have hit the street and are eager to be put to work protecting the citizens of the Town of Leesburg.