ORANGE COUNTY, Texas — Deputies at the Orange County Sheriff's Office are welcoming two new K9 team members to help with daily operations.
The patrol division will now have the help of K9s Rudy and Phoenix for traffic stops, suspect tracking and routine searches of the jail. They are the first K9s to serve within the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Rudy will join Deputy Chris Arriola and Phoenix will be paired with Deputy Brandon Mojica. Both dogs are 'Belgium Malinois.'
Deputies Arriola and Mojica were part of an 'intensive K-9 handler course,' and received training to use the dogs for narcotics, tracking and suspect apprehension, according to officials.
Sheriff Jimmy Mooney "believes the K9 Program is an essential tool for the day to day operations" of his office.
From an Orange County Sheriff's Office news release:
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office would like to announce the addition of two new Deputies, K9 Rudy and K9 Phoenix, to the Patrol Division. Deputy Chris Arriola and Brandon Mojica have recently returned from an intensive K-9 handler course where they were trained to use K9 Deputies as dual purpose for narcotics, tracking, and suspect apprehension. Deputy Arriola has been paired with a Belgium Malinois named Rudy. Deputy Mojica has been paired with a Belgium Malinois named Phoenix. Sheriff Mooney believes the K9 Program is an essential tool for the day to day operations of the Sheriff’s Office. The K9 Units are used for traffic stops, tracking of suspects, and searching the jail for contraband. The jail is searched routinely for items of contraband, such as tobacco, drugs, or weapons. This is to ensure the safety of staff and inmates. The Sheriff’s Office will continue to improve and update this program to better serve the citizens of Orange County. Help us welcome the new unit to the team.