Tallahassee Police Dept. Swears In New Bloodhound
March 3, 2020 – Tallahassee, FL – TPD Swears In New Bloodhound
The Tallahassee Police Department added a new bloodhound to its K9 Unit during a jam-packed swearing-in ceremony hosted by the Tallahassee Board of Realtors. K9 Jon Jon was presented to new TPD Chief Revell, Sgt. Sonia Bush, and his future K9 handlers by Scent Evidence K9 CEO, Paul Coley, who has assisted the TPD in several successful searches and investigations. Chief Revell, Sgt. Bush, and Coley presented ways that K9 Jon Jon will positively impact the department’s response in missing person cases. The swearing-in ceremony made front-page headlines in the Tallahassee Democrat was attended by dozens of TPD officers, community and state leaders, local news affiliates, and the family of Jonathan “Jon Jon” Hagans, K9 Jon Jon’s namesake.
Read the TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT STORY HERE.
3-year-old Jonathan Hagans went missing in 1968 during a family outing at Jacksonville Beach. He was never seen again and his disappearance is the oldest missing child case in Florida. Jonathan’s younger brother Joel Hagans met Scent Evidence K9 CEO, Paul Coley, in late 2019 during a Tallahassee Board of Realtors presentation. The two connected and formed a partnership to raise awareness about child safety and how communities can protect children before they go missing with the use of Scent Kits®.
The Tallahassee Board of Realtors has a long history of supporting efforts and causes that improve the lives of the residents they serve in their community. They have coordinated the formation of a non-profit to sponsor the donation of the future lifesaving bloodhound to the TPD. Scent Evidence K9 will be donating the K9 handler training and certification for multiple TPD officers to ensure that there is always someone ready to respond to a missing person call with scent discriminate K9 search resources. K9 Jon Jon is already training with his future handlers and is expected to be ready for services in 5-6 months.
See the WCTV News broadcast HERE
K9 Jon Jon was named to honor the memory of Jonathan “Jon Jon” Hagans and after presenting him to the TPD K9 Team, Coley announced the formation of the Bringing The Lost Home task force that will conduct a cold case review of the missing child. The task force will be working closely with the Jacksonville Beach PD and includes Coley, FSU Director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, David Merrick, Overwatch Risk Management Consultant, Wayne North, Paul Martin, an expert in HRD investigations, and Ternion Risk Management CEO, Roger Strecker.
Scent Evidence K9 would like to thank the Tallahassee Board of Realtors, Tallahassee Police Department, the Jonathan Hagans family, the Tallahassee Democrat, WCTV, and WTXL for supporting efforts to create a safer Tallahassee community. We will keep you up to date on K9 Jon Jon’s training progress.
See the WTXL News broadcast HERE
