Welcome K9 Raven To The Broome County Sheriff’s Office Team

I love a good dog story. Being the owner of three dogs, I do a double-take on anything dog-related that I see.

While all dogs have great qualities (Greyhounds are the best in my biased opinion), I am always impressed with the abilities of a K9 dog. According to the website Police Chief Magazine, K9 breeds include German Shepherds, Belgian Malinois, and Labradors.

K9 dog training includes obedience, protection, searches, tracking, and criminal apprehension. Police Chief Magazine also notes that "a separate class of dog is prepared for tactical situations such as SWAT or special government operations."

K9 dogs are prevalent in the Southern Tier, and Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar along with Undersheriff Sam David recently announced a new edition to the force, K9 Raven.

Broome County Sheriff Deputy Thomas Holden is Raven's partner and handler. Together, they went through training over several weeks in Illinois at Ceder Creek Kennels.

We're proud to welcome K9 Raven to the family and we know Deputy Holden will do an amazing job in his new role, just as he has done as a member of our BCSO Road Patrol division thus far. -  Broome County Sheriff Fred Akshar

Deputy Holden and Raven will take to road patrol beginning in November (2023.) K9 Raven is a female German Shepherd and has been trained for tracking, protection, drug detection, and other skills needed for law enforcement K-9 units.