North Augusta Adds K-9 Officers River and Raven to Public Safety Team

The North Augusta Department of Public Safety brought two K-9 officers onto its crew. River and Raven will work with their handlers to sniff out drugs and track down missing people.

This addition gives the department round-the-clock K-9 coverage. River is an 18-month-old Labrador retriever who pairs with Officer Jason Cunningham. Raven, a German Shepherd aged somewhere between 13 and 15 months, works with Officer Ryan Dabbs.

Friday brought an event at headquarters where both dogs showed what they could do. Each animal located three hidden substances.

"She loves to work," Dabbs said of Raven, according to Augusta Good News. "She has a lot of personality. She's very loving. She's sweet."

Both K-9 officers started early in April. The North Augusta Public Safety Foundation funded the acquisition of both animals and sent the two officers away for training. That instruction lasted almost two months in Forsyth, Georgia.

Cunningham's been a K-9 handler before. About 20 years back, he worked with a Belgian Malinois at the Aiken County Sheriff's Department. But this marked his first time training with an animal from day one.

"River is high energy. As soon as she goes in a room, she knows her job. As you could see when she came in, she was pulling me. She started wanting to search. Every day for eight weeks that's what we did," he said.

Chief Junior Johnson said drugs show up in all areas. Trafficking spawns other crimes. "Our goal is to make sure that the children of North Augusta can grow up in a safe community," Johnson said.

The other K-9 handlers in the agency train together each week. The foundation is accepting funds to purchase badges for each K-9 officer.