Public Safety, Rockville Reports

RCPD Welcomes New K-9 Officer

K-9 Dare is the Department’s First Bloodhound

The Rockville City Police Department’s newest officer has four legs and big floppy ears.

Dare, a bloodhound, reported for duty Dec. 22 and is now on patrol on Rockville’s streets alongside her partner, Cpl. James Shieder Jr. She is the latest in a line of Rockville K-9 officers that spans more than half a century.

Earlier in December, Shieder and longtime K-9 handler Cpl. Ali Zeighani met Dare in Kentucky for bonding and training.

While bloodhounds are known for their acute sense of smell, Dare is the first bloodhound K-9 in the history of RCPD. Recent K-9 officers have all been German shepherds. All RCPD K-9s past and present were trained in narcotics and bomb detection, as well as tracking.

“The addition of Dare is a major step forward for the Rockville City Police Department in expanding our operational and lifesaving capabilities,” Chief Jason L. West said.

RCPD established its K-9 unit in 1974 with Officer Larry Yates, who later retired as a captain, serving as the department’s first K-9 handler. Yates and the city’s first K-9, a German shepherd named Rommel described in a Jan. 2, 1975 “Montgomery Journal” article as “an excellent tracker,” apprehended a subject fleeing the scene of a burglary soon after the K-9 joined the force.

Meet Dare and Cpl. Shieder this month on Rockville 11, channel 11 on county cable, and on the city’s YouTube channel.

For more photos and videos, follow the RCPD and City of Rockville on Facebook and Instagram.

Learn more about the RCPD at rockvillemd.gov/police.