West Haven Police Department K-9 Unit

06/12/2026

K-9 Gamble enjoying a recent day off at home rolling around in the grass. These don't come around too often! ☀️☀️

When off-duty, our K-9's are integrated into our families and fully capable of being "just a dog" at home.

Continue to "follow" our page to see and learn all about West Haven Police's K-9 Unit!

06/11/2026

Come watch the Connecticut K-9 Olympics with K-9 Gamble and his handler in September!

🐾 Competitor Spotlight: Officer Tortora & K9 Gamble 🐾
Please help us welcome Officer Tortora and K9 Gamble from the West Haven Police Department to the 2026 Connecticut K9 Olympics!
K9 Gamble and Officer Tortora have been partnered for approximately two years and are certified through the Connecticut State Police K9 Unit as a patrol K9 team. Together, they are certified in tracking, criminal apprehension, evidence recovery, building searches, and handler protection.
In just the first 18 months of service, K9 Gamble was responsible for 10 criminal apprehensions, demonstrating the drive, skill, and reliability that make police K9s such valuable assets to their communities.
One of K9 Gamble’s most notable deployments occurred during a critical incident involving a barricaded male armed with a large knife inside a local church. The individual was threatening officers and others when K9 Gamble was deployed and successfully apprehended the suspect. For his actions during the incident, K9 Gamble received an award recognizing his bravery and service. His apprehension likely prevented serious injuries and saved lives that day.
We are honored to have Officer Tortora and K9 Gamble joining us at the 2026 Connecticut K9 Olympics and look forward to watching this accomplished team compete!
📍 The Connecticut K9 Olympics takes place on September 19, 2026, at 285 Shaker Rd., Enfield, CT.
🎟️ Free admission
🚗 Free parking
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family-friendly event
🐕 Working K9 teams from across the region competing in obedience, agility, and patrol-based events! 💙🐾

06/02/2026

🚨🚨Successful Weekend for our K-9 Unit🚨🚨

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🐾K-9 Ado & K-9 Gamble Dual K-9 Deployment assisting the Connecticut State Police🐾

In the evening of 05/30/2026, the West Haven Police Department was notified by the Connecticut State Police - Troop G that a vehicle had fled a motor vehicle stop on I-95.

A short time later, the vehicle was located in the area of Campbell Avenue and West Spring Street by West Haven Police Officers where it fled another motor vehicle stop.

With careful coordination amongst officers, they were able to successfully deploy tire deflation devices which slowed the vehicle to an extremely slow speed as it re-entered I-95 north.

In coordination with the Connecticut State Police, West Haven Officers and State Police Troopers were able to successfully box-in the vehicle on I-95 and prevent it from fleeing any further.

K-9 Ado and K-9 Gamble were both deployed simultaneously as the vehicle had numerous occupants. The driver of the vehicle surrendered to K-9 commands and exited the vehicle where he was taken into custody without incident.

K-9 Ado was able to enter the vehicle and assist Officers with removing the uncooperative passenger from the vehicle, where he was taken into custody. The deployment of these K-9's were extremely successful in ensuring our officers and Troopers got home the same way they arrived at work.

Both occupants had several outstanding arrest warrants from several agencies, as well as in possession of a quantity of narcotics.

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🚨K-9 Apprehension🚨

Later that evening, Officers were dispatched to an address within the City of West Haven for a domestic disturbance.

Upon the Officers arrival, they located a suspect within the residence and attempted to take him into custody. The suspect began to actively resist arrest which prompted these officers to call for help as a struggle ensued.

K-9 Gamble and his handler were the first to arrive, at which time K-9 Gamble was deplpyed, successfully apprehending the suspect. K-9 Gamble assisted Officers with taking the suspect into custody without further incident.

The suspect was arrested and charged accordingly with numerous domestic related and criminal charges.

*The West Haven Police K-9 Unit is committed to protecting both the public and our officers through highly trained teamwork, professionalism, and dedication. These specialized K-9 teams assist in locating missing persons, tracking suspects, detecting evidence, and enhancing officer safety during critical incidents. Through their vigilance and service, our K-9s play a vital role in helping maintain a safe and secure community for everyone.

05/29/2026

The West Haven Police Department K-9 Unit sends their love to Hamden Police Department with their passing of K-9 Knight.

Thank you for your service to our community!

05/28/2026

K-9 Ado ans K-9 Gamble were reuqested to do a K-9 demonstration today at Dodd Middle School, in Cheshire. This was in conjuction with Public Safety Day at school!

Both dogs did a total of five separate demonstrations for about 200 students total.

We truly enjoy conducting K-9 demonstrations and educating both students and staff about the capabilities of our dogs.

Thank you to Dodd Middle School for the invitation!

05/27/2026

An incredible photo of K-9 Ado keeping watch and making sure his handler and fellow Officers are safe at all times!

05/24/2026

Frequently Asked Questions:

❓️Does the West Haven Police Department's K-9's have ballistic vests?

➡️A: Yes! All three of our K-9's have custom fitted bullet and stab proof ballistic vests. These vests were generously donated from various donations and supplied by Vested Interest for K-9's. Each vest is custom tailored to each specific K-9 to ensure the maximum comfort and protection for each dog.

❓️Do your K-9's go home with you?

➡️A: Yes, they do! Outside of their normal working shift, the K-9's reside full time with their handlers at their respective residences. All three dogs are transported to and from work in custom police vehicles designed for the K-9's that are assigned to each handler. It's no secret that the handlers sometimes spend more time with their K-9 partner than their actual human family.

❓️How are the K-9's protected during the extreme heat and cold?

➡️A: The West Haven Police Department and the City of West Haven provides each handler the top of the line technology to ensure the safety and well-being of their dogs while inside the police cruiser. Each police cruiser is equipped with numerous temperature guages throughout the passenger compartment that monitors the temperature. Should the temperature reach a certain threshold, the lights and siren will activate, the rear windows automatically roll down, a window fan is activated, and all the K-9 handlers receive a text and phone call to ensure prompt notification.

❓️Does the K-9 Unit accept donations?

➡️A: Yes, we do. The generosity of donars allows the K-9's and their handlers to receive extra training, and new equipment to ensure top-of-the-line police dogs in our community.

❓️What are the police dogs capable of?

➡️A: K-9 Ado and K-9 Gamble are certified in all aspect of patrol to include the recovery of evidence, to seek out individuals inside structures commonly known as building searches, the protection of their handlers and fellow officers, suspect apprehension, human tracking, and be able to pass obediance testing. K-9 Ado is also assigned to West Haven Police Departments Special Response Team, as well as the United States Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force.
K-9 Hanny, assigned to West Haven Police Department's Street Crime Unit, is trained in narcotics detection. K-9 Hanny is trained on a plethora of illicit narcotics and needs to under-go training on a daily basis.
If you were to put together 20 olympic pools 🏊‍♂️, and place one single drop of a different odor inside those 20 olympic pools, K-9 Hanny can smell it!

❓️What kind of training is required to have a police dog?
➡️A: The police K-9's of West Haven Police are trained ans certified by the Connecticut State Police K-9 Unit which is globally known as one od the best K-9 training units in the country, if not the world. K-9 teams from across the county and sometimes the world, as well as federal agents lean on the Connecticut State Police K-9 Unit for K-9 training.
Patrol dogs, which are typically german shepherds, belgain mallionis, or both, under go 16 weeks of full time training. Once graduated from the K-9 academy, each K-9 team is required to attend monthly training. Each K-9 team typically does several training sessions a day to sharpen their skills whether it's tracking, obediance, building searches, article recovery, and more.
K-9 Hanny goes through a 12 week full time training course through the Connecticut State Police K-9 Unit. Once completed with the academy, K-9 Hanny only eats when she locates narcotics. This requires the handler to train K-9 Hanny on a daily basis in order for her to eat. Don't worry, for those who have seen K-9 Hanny knows she is well fed thanks to the overwhelming amount of success she has had in her career!

❓️What happens when the K-9 retires?

➡️A: It is customary in our department that the retired K-9 continues to live with their handler and their family while enjoying the retired life sun bathing on the back patio 🌞.

Do you have any questions relating to our police dogs you'd like to know? Drop them in the comments below and we can try to answer them for you!

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05/18/2026

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
.....and finally, we showcase to you a wealth a knowledge, one of the most experienced K-9 handlers in the State of Connecticut with nearly TWENTY years of police K-9 service to the City of West Haven, and the current West Haven Police Department K-9 Unit supervisor, Sergeant Scott Bloom.

Sergeant Bloom started his K-9 career in 2003, graduating from the Connecticut State Police Academy with K-9 Onyx. K-9 Onyx had a very successful career, catching bad guys and finding missing people.

On Easter Sunday 2005, K-9 Onyx was requested to track for a missing male suffering dementia from his residence on Park St. After a very long track, K-9 Onyx tracked all the way to the New Haven train station indicating the missing male may of got on a train. Metro North Police was contacted and located the missing male on the train heading to New York City, not understanding where he was going.

K-9 Onyx retired in 2011 and lived out his best years at home with Sergeant Bloom and his family. It was at this time, Sergeant Bloom was paired with K-9 Hank and they both again, graduated the Connecticut State Police K-9 Academy. K-9 Hank served the City of West Haven for only a few years, retiring in 2013 and living with Sergeant Bloom.

In 2012, K-9 Hank tracked the operator of a stolen vehicle that crashed near the University of New Haven. K-9 Hank tracked through the campus locating the suspect with the ignition key along the Boston Post Road near Wade Street where he was taken into custody. This arrest would not have been possible with K-9 Hank.

After K-9 Hank's retirement, Sergeant Bloom was paired with K-9 Ike, graduating from the Connecticut State Police K-9 Academy for the THIRD time. Sergeant Bloom and K-9 Ike served the City of West Haven from 2012 to 2022 where K-9 Ike retired and continued to live his best life at home with Sergeant Bloom in his family.

In December 2020, K-9 Ike assisted members of the West Haven Police Department's Street Crime Unit with a narcotics investigation. K-9 Ike conducted a K-9 sniff of the exterior of a Uhaul vehicle. K-9 Ike alerted to the presence of narcotics within the U-Haul and the rear door was opened. Inside the rear of the U-haul were PALLETS of ma*****na, later weighting at 1,700 pounds. The bundles were wrapped in plastic and masked with a detergent in an attempt to defeat a K-9. But it was no match for K-9 Ike.

These are just a very few short stories of the hundreds that exist. On top of hundreds of K-9 demonstrations throughout the State of Connecticut, numerous awards, nearly 20 years of experience and a plethora of other things, Sergeant Bloom continues his "K-9 career" showing new handlers the ropes, and supervising our unit.

Sergeant Blooms name is one that everybody in the police K-9 world here in Connecticut knows to this day. We are proud to have him and his experience here in the City of West Haven and his dedication to this special job in police work should not go unnoticed.

Sergeant Bloom shows no signs of retiring soon, and new handlers will continue to rely on him. Thank you for your dedication your dogs and the West Haven community!

05/16/2026

☀️☀️What a beautiful day to track! ☀️☀️

Your West Haven Police Department's K-9 Unit utilized today's awesome weather to go out and track! Below you'll see Sergeant Marchitto and K-9 Ado tracking one of our officers hiding in the woods. This particular training was over a half mile long, through dense populated areas. K-9 Ado, a very experienced tracking dog, was unphased by these distractions and located the "suspect" laying in a pile of leaves.

Police K-9's use their powerful sense of smell to track suspects and find missing people. A dog’s nose is much stronger than a human’s and can detect tiny scent particles from people left behind on the ground, clothing, or objects. When tracking, the dog follows a specific scent trail, even through difficult areas like forests, streets, or crowded places can make it increasingly difficult. This is why we train on days like today!

Police K-9's can also tell the difference between many different smells, helping officers locate the right person quickly and safely.

Training is very important as police K-9's must learn to stay focused, obey commands, and work in stressful situations. Through regular training such as what you see below, dogs improve their tracking skills and learn how to search carefully without getting distracted. Well-trained police dogs help save lives, find missing children or adults, and assist officers in catching suspects more effectively.

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