Today, the University City Police Department held a final call for UCPD K-9 Officer King. More than fifteen area law enforcement agencies joined in support of the University City Police Department and K-9 King.
“Today is the final duty and work call for K-9 King, our comrade in arms for the University City Police Department. Today is a celebration but also a sad time for our department,” said University City Police Chief Larry Hampton.
Due to unfortunate medical issues, UCPD K-9 King was humanely euthanized and laid to rest. K-9 King was born in 2017. He has been in service since January 2019. K-9 King has been instrumental in conducting area searches for drugs, weapons, suspects and other crucial evidence.
Most recently, his work was critical at a Thanksgiving Day burglary. During this case, UCPD responded to a burglary in progress at a local small business. K-9 King was deployed inside the business where the suspect was actively burglarizing. The subject fled from out of a backdoor and was quickly taken into custody without incident.
K-9 King has also assisted other agencies on numerous mutual aid requests. Some of these include tracking business burglary suspects in Bridgeton, sniffing for narcotics inside a vehicle in Pine Lawn and tracking homicide subjects in St. Ann.
K-9 King’s handler UCPD Officer Ray Hussmann fondly recalled a memory with K-9 King when he was notified of two children in the area who were afraid of the police. With the permission of the parents, Officer Hussmann and K-9 King arrived at their home and answered their questions to make them feel more comfortable around officers. “They were amazed at how big and kind he was. The parents later sent me a letter thanking me for talking to the kids and showing them King,” said Hussmann.
K-9 King will be greatly missed by his University City Police Department family as well as his family at home, his canine sisters Penelope and Sadie. K-9 King loved snacking on treats and playing with his favorite plush toy “Elmo.”
“King will be remembered as a very social dog. He made a lot of friends at UCPD and other agencies. King is a very good boy, and I am forever grateful for having the opportunity to be his handler,” said Hussmann.