A new police canine in DuPage County was named Jake in honor of McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Keltner, who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2019.
The DuPage County Sheriff’s Office announced their new bloodhound’s name earlier this week.
The 9-week-old black and tan bloodhound began his year-long training on Wednesday.
When ready, Jake will trail scent-specific human subjects.
“Traditionally, the Office would have posted a picture on social media and solicited the public’s help in naming the new K9 but we’ve already seen this dog in action and know he is going to be something special,” the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office said.
Sheriff’s officials said they decided to name the dog in honor of McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Keltner, who was fatally shot in the line of duty while working for the U.S. Marshal Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force.
The task force on March 7, 2019, was attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Floyd E. Brown of Springfield, who was staying at the Extended Stay America Hotel in Rockford to avoid apprehension on outstanding warrants that he had for residential burglary.
Keltner was fatally shot by Brown.
A jury found Brown guilty of second-degree murder in April.
Keltner started his career as a civilian booking officer at the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office before joining the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office.
Howard Keltner, his father, is a retired DuPage County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Corrections and Jacob’s brother, Zachary Keltner, is a lieutenant in the sheriff’s corrections bureau, officials said.