Sheriff Dedicates Monument To K-9 Family's Faithful Service

RIVERHEAD, NY — Four-legged friends who serve the public faithfully were honored today in Riverhead, as Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon dedicated a new memorial to past and present K-9 officers outside his office.

Toulon was joined by Undersheriff Kevin Catalina, Undersheriff Steven Kuehhas, Chief Deputy Michael Sharkey, and K-9 units from many different agencies, including Suffolk County Police, MTA Police, Town of Riverhead Police, Nassau County Police, DEC Police, and the SPCA.

“This is a special day for us at the sheriff’s office and in Suffolk County because today we have the opportunity to honor and pay tribute to our K-9 family in law enforcement with a monument dedicated to their service," Toulon said.

The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office has six K-9s — three corrections K-9s and three deputy K-9s. The K-9 units have been responsible for the recovery of extensive amounts of illegal narcotics and the proceeds, a release from Toulon's office said.

Over the years, the K-9 units have found missing persons, wanted felons, and recovered evidence from cases of assault, robberies and burglaries; they also meet with participants at community programs around Suffolk County to discuss and demonstrate the role police K-9s perform, Toulon said.

The Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office’s K-9s also help keep the jails safe and assist with contraband seizures and arrests, Toulon said.

"Our four-legged K-9 team members help our correction officers carry out one of the county’s toughest jobs," Toulon said.

The monument was created from granite used for the original Riverhead jail, which was torn down about 80 years ago. The granite had been thrown in the woods in the highway department yard and was recovered about 15 years ago, Toulon said.

"This is the same batch of stone that was used to create the monument in the front of the building dedicated to the county’s deputy sheriffs and correction officers who died in service," he said.

Other than the reclaimed granite, all of the materials used to create the monument were purchased using asset forfeiture funds at no cost to Suffolk County.