Blue Ash now has a dog trained to sniff out explosives at public events.
The Blue Ash Police Department announced Oct. 14 that Kai, a German Shorthaired Pointer trained in explosives detection, has joined the department's K9 unit. Officer Dustin Moore handles the dog, according to the city's news release.
Kai is an explosives-detection dog.
That makes him a specialized addition to the department, which already has K9 officers on its roster. The Matt Haverkamp Foundation sponsored Kai with funding from Toyota Motor North America's Cincinnati Region in Blue Ash.
The foundation was established in November 2005 in memory of Matt Haverkamp, a K9 police officer. Its purpose, according to its website, is to continue Haverkamp's legacy by supporting law enforcement agencies across the greater Cincinnati area. Since its founding, the organization has purchased 131 K9s with nearly $1,422,000 raised through annual fundraising events, sponsors and donors.
Kai appeared at the department's Open House and caught the ceremonial first pitch at the Battle of the Badges charity softball game, a police-versus-fire matchup, on Oct. 10. Retired Toyota employee and Ohio Tactical Officer Association contributor Dave Stansbury threw the pitch.
The foundation's reach extends beyond Blue Ash. The University of Cincinnati Police Division's K-9 Unit, created in 2015, uses two explosives-detection dogs, according to UC's K-9 Unit page. One of them, a German Shorthaired Pointer named Remi, was also purchased by the Matt Haverkamp Foundation. UC's K-9 Unit sweeps buildings before special events and assists other local law enforcement partners with explosives-detection services.
The Blue Ash Police Department said on the city's X account that Kai will provide "added security at public events" in the city. The department did not specify which events Kai would be deployed to first or how the dog's duties would differ from those of other K9 officers already on the force.
