Indiana State Police Superintendent Douglas Carter and Trooper Jason Pratt and K-9 “Rogue.”
Credit Indiana State Police
NORTHWEST INDIANA - There’s Two New Dogs in Town, police dogs, for the Indiana State Police. The department recently held a graduation ceremony at the Indiana State Police (ISP) Museum in Indianapolis, for the ISP K-9 Class and K-9 officers. Nikan and Rogue are partnered with Troopers Justin Hansen and Jason Pratt respectively.
Hansen and Pratt, two of the three troopers that graduated, are both assigned to the Lowell Post which covers Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Newton, Jasper, Pulaski and Starke Counties.
Master Trooper Glen Fifield, says the troopers assigned to the K-9 unit have to go through extensive training.
"Each trooper when they're assigned to the canine unit, they're assigned to the training which entails 14 weeks of pretty intensive training, Fifield says. "It's over 500 hours and it's all done down in Indianapolis. And each of the canine handlers, as well as the dogs that go through rigorous certifications, and if at any point in time they don't successfully pass that, they'll have to go through the training again until they do pass the required courses."
Nikan, a male, and Rogue, a female, are trained in narcotic searches, aggression control work, building searches, tracking, article searches, and obedience. They are both certified Police Service Dogs through the International Police Work Dog Association (IPWADA). Nikan and Rogue are certified in narcotics, article search, building search, area search, tracking, aggression and obedience.
Trooper Hansen, a native of Boone Grove, is a TacMed instructor, a Field Training Officer, and Background Investigator. His K-9 partner, Nikan is a five year Malinherd Belgian Malinois/German Shepherd mix, imported from Poland. He and Nikan reside in Lake County.
Trooper Pratt is a native of Portage. He worked as a jail officer at the Porter County Sheriff’s Department before joining the state police. Pratt is also a Field Training Officer and assigned to the All Crimes Policing squad. His K-9 female, Rogue is an 18 month Belgian Malinois mix. Rogue will reside with Trooper Pratt and his family in Porter County.
