Farmington Police K-9 Is Top Dog At Major Competition

FARMINGTON, CT — Ozzy Osbourne may "Bark at the Moon," as his classic heavy metal song states, but the Farmington Police Department's 'Ozzy' is a dog that does much, much more.

He and his handler, FPD Officer Kyle Mortensen, took home first place in the Hometown Foundation's 'Dream Ride' police K-9 competition last Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Farmington Polo Club.

Ozzy is a 4-year-old Belgin Malinois, while Mortensen has been with the FPD for 14 years, nine as a K-9 handler.

"I’m very proud of Ozzy’s performance as well as every other competitor. It’s a fun day for a great event and the perfect opportunity for us all to showcase all the hard work and time we put in to training with our partners," Mortensen told Patch.

"We are grateful to the Hometown Foundation for putting on the event every summer and everything they do for the police K-9 community."

Mortensen and Ozzy's colleagues agreed.

"We are very proud of Officer Kyle Mortensen and K-9 Ozzy’s accomplishments and daily work that they do while on patrol," said Farmington Police Department spokesman Lt. Matthew S. Corcoran "This overall first place win exemplifies Ozzy’s versatile skillset."

The "Dream Ride" event in Farmington and surrounding towns was a fund-raiser for CT Special Olympics, among other causes.

One of that two-day event's highlights was a K-9 competition pitting police dog units from throughout the area in a series of challenges.

The events in the police dog competition covered the full array of what K-9's do in the field.

For example, contests centered on evidence recovery, searching buildings, an obstacle course, obedience training, environmental suspect apprehension and narcotics detection.

Another event measured the force a police dog can inflict when taking down a suspect, called the "hardest hit" contest, which utilizes a decoy.

The main events last Saturday and Sunday were a classic car tour (vehicles that also were part of a car show at the site) and a massive motorcycle tour, with both events covering roadways in surrounding towns like Farmington, Canton and Simsbury.

A total of 20 police dog teams competed and, in addition to Connecticut units, teams from the New York Police Department and Hampden County, Mass., also were on hand.

Corcoran said police canine work is a combination of demonstrations and competitions, with the most important tasks still being catching the bad guys.

"Our K-9 team can go from a community event demonstration to a suspect apprehension within the same hour of the day and excel in both," he said. "The Farmington Police Department is fortunate to have such a skilled and cohesive K-9 team."

Placing in second place was the Southington Police Department's "Tank" and his handler Officer Neal Ayotte.

Third in the competition was "Soleil" and Officer Neal Cavanaugh of the Glastonbury Police Department.

For more information on the Farmington Police Department, click on this link.

For more information on the Hometown Foundation's 'Dream Ride' event, click on this link.

From Aug. 30: 'Southington Police Dog Does Well At Major Competition In Farmington'