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K9 Services
The Kings County District Attorney’s Office K9 Services Unit was founded in 2017 when District Attorney Keith Fagundes authorized the adoption of Dodger, a Springer Spaniel trained in narcotic detection. Dodger was graciously provided to our office by the Hanford Police Department and is still in service today providing detection services for schools and custodial facilities upon request.
In 2018 the District Attorney’s Office was incredibly fortunate to have received grant funding that allowed for the expansion of our K9 Services Unit and the introduction of our first Trauma Service K9, a two year old Golden Retriever named Diamond. Assigned primarily to work with children who have survived physical or sexual abuse, Diamond’s positive impact on children and the community was profound. With the success of Diamond the program was further expanded in 2019 by the addition of a second Trauma Service K9, a Golden Retriever named Echo.
Both Diamond and Echo's primary function is to work with victims during forensic interviews that are conducted within our Multi Disciplinary Interview Center on a regular basis. Each dog will remain assigned to a victim from the point of interview through trial to ensure there is consistent support and a measure of familiarity during an unfamiliar time.
The mission of our K9 Service Unit is to provide our victims and community comfort in their time of need. Their service has been applied throughout the Central Valley from school and health facilities to assisting partner agencies during periods when emotional support was required.
Our handlers and K9 partners undergo continuous training and are always seeking out new techniques that will help the members of our community through difficult times.
MEET OUR TEAM
Echo
Breed: Golden Retriever
Expertise: Trauma Service
Handler: Investigator Vicki Jones
Community Outreach
The Kings County District Attorney K9 Services Unit frequently provides outreach to the public and opportunities to engage with our team. These outreach opportunities are available at no cost and open to any community organization who may be interested or in need.
For further information regarding our K9 Services Unit, or to schedule an outreach event please call or email:
Senior Investigator Nicole Lucero
Kings County District Attorney's Office
1400 W. Lacey Blvd
Hanford, Ca., 93230
(559) 352-9877