Enfield Police Canine Team Wins Regional Event, Headed To Nationals

ENFIELD, CT — There's an old saying, "the third time is the charm," which will hopefully be the case when Enfield police officer Chris Dufresne and his canine companion Kodi head to a national competition for police dog teams in September.

Dufresne has been with the canine unit for more than a decade, and has worked with Kodi for the past four years. Over the weekend of May 21-22, the duo placed first overall out of 22 teams in the U.S. Police Canine Association Region 4 PD-1 field trials in Ludlow, Mass., earning a trip to the nationals in Georgia. It will be the third national competition for Dufresne, who previously handled Bruin.

"We have a great canine program within the Enfield Police Department," Dufresne told Patch. "We work tremendously together as a team, and the display of last weekend is because of that teamwork."

The first day of competition consisted of obedience, an agility course, evidence recovery and suspect searches, while the second day involved criminal apprehension work. Dufresne and Kodi placed first in obedience and criminal apprehension, and wound up first overall for the first time.

Dufresne praised his colleague, Officer Mike Colantuono, "for wearing that bite suit all day Sunday in 100-degree heat."

Police Chief Alaric Fox said, "It was always our perception that Officer Dufresne was one of the best canine handlers in the state, if not in the country. That perception has now been proven accurate. We look forward to hearing of his continued success at the national level."