The Lake County Sheriff’s Office’s two newest police canines — Zeus and Drako — were sworn in on Friday by the Lake County clerk and received their badges.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said in August that the sheriff’s office was in the final process of selecting the newest canines, which were male German Shepherds.
Covelli said that the current canines — Axel, Boomer, Danno, Dax, Duke, Echo, Ryker and Tera — have a proven track record of success in the Lake County community.
“Combined, they locate missing people, fleeing suspects, numerous discarded firearms or other evidence, hundreds of pounds of illegal drugs, sniff for explosives, and search for illegal digital evidence,” he said.
The sheriff’s office added five new canines to their canine unit in 2022, bringing the total number of canines to 10.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office continued its tradition of asking for help in naming its two newest colleagues.
Lake County youth enrolled in kindergarten through their senior year of high school were invited to participate in the naming contest.
The deadline to submit names to the sheriff’s office was early September.
The sheriff’s office in November announced they chose the names Zeus and Drako.
Zeus was paired with Deputy Kevin Harris and Drako was paired with Deputy Roxana Stancioiu.
The two canines officially graduated from their initial training late last year.
The students who chose the winning names were notified and were invited to a swearing-in ceremony, which was held Friday.
Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega swore both canines in and they received their badges.
“Our canines are an incredibly valuable asset to everyone who lives or works in Lake County. Our goal is to have at least one of our canines on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to assist our sheriff’s deputies and municipal partners,” Lake County Sheriff John Idleburg said last year.