K-9 Xana Joins Howard Co. Police As Explosives, Firearms Detection Dog

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — A new K-9 has joined the Howard County police force.

Authorities introduced K-9 Xana, a German shorthaired pointer, on social media recently. K-9 Xana started official duties late this summer as an explosives and firearms detection dog.

K-9 Xana can also help track down missing people.

The Chesapeake K-9 Fund funded the HCPD's purchase of K-9 Xana, the police department said.

According to the Howard County Police Department, Prince was one of the first police dogs to join the force. In fact, HCPD Officer Randolph Brightwell, Prince's handler, was among the first county police officers in Maryland to have a dog. Prince was on duty with Brightwell when he was fatally shot during a traffic stop in Ellicott City on May 29, 1961.

Brightwell, a World War II veteran, had pulled over a vehicle for a loud muffler, not knowing that the two men inside the car had just robbed a gas station and killed the store clerk. The men attacked Brightwell and shot him with his own service weapon. Prince was locked inside the patrol car during the attack, unable to help his handler, the HCPD stated.

Brightwell was 33 at the time of his death and left behind a wife and two young children. He became the first Howard County police officer killed in the line of duty. The department named its highest commendation, the Medal of Honor, in his honor, and later named Brightwell Drive at the county office complex after him, according to the Howard County Police Officers' Association.

The most recent list of K-9s on duty with the HCPD, dated July 2025, shows K-9 Xana joining the following force of active K-9s:

• K-9 Blade
• K-9 Bronx
• K-9 Duke
• K-9 Falco
• K-9 Max
• K-9 Murph
• K-9 Pegy
• K-9 Titan

Vested Interest in K-9s Inc. donated bullet- and stab-resistant vests to all eight K-9s.