Residents Help Name DuPage County's New Drug-Sniffing K-9s

WHEATON, IL — Three of the newest members of the DuPage County Sheriff's Office have been named. The three K-9s, who will be trained to sniff out narcotics, were given their names after the Sheriff's Office put a callout for name suggestions on Facebook.

All three of the new K-9s are about 18 months old and are female, according to info from the Sheriff's Office. The Belgian Malinois has been named Merit, to honor the county's new Metropolitan Emergency Response and Investigation Team (MERIT). The black lab has been named Raven and the chocolate lab will be called Xena.

In a statement, DuPage County Sheriff James Mendrick said, "We appreciate everyone's participation and interest in our new K-9 deputies. This was a fun way to interact with the public and see their creativity."

Before they can set out on their new careers, the dogs must each go through 160 hours of training with a human Drug Recognition Expert to learn how to detect heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and other narcotics. Once training is complete, the Merit, Raven, and Xena should be ready to take on 12-hour shifts by March.