Submitted by Sandra Appaneal
K9 Kevin was born in Germany in 2008. As a pup he was tested for his potential to excel in police work. He arrived at the Cape Coral Police department in 2009 where he teamed up with Officer Brian Aponte. The two formed an inseparable bond that served the police department and protected our community in exemplary ways.
They began with a 400 hour patrol dog course, a 200 hour drug detection course and testing certification through the National Police Canine Association. They worked on obedience, detection work and patrol work. They shared the same home and worked the same shifts.
As a rookie, K9 Kev was “very aggressive to everybody.” This, one would think, is how a police dog should be, but Aponte saw the potential in his partner. In addition to the 1000’s of hours of specialized and maintenance training, the pair spent years of their own time going to parks to teach Kev how to become more social.
Kev began work as one of the first SWAT / K9 dogs for the unit. He was involved in numerous search warrants, hundreds of drug arrests, apprehension of criminals, and large scale searches for murder suspects throughout Lee County. He completed two national SWAT K9 tactical courses, trainer’s courses, and recovered evidence in felony cases which assisted investigators. In October 2012 he competed in the National Police Canine Association’s National Competition against teams from all over the country and earned 1st place in drug detection and 2nd place in the Patrol dog competition.
He officially retired in August 2016 due to medical conditions that were becoming apparent and slowing him down. Officer Aponte gives a shout out to the Cape Coral Police Department for showing their compassion and appreciation in allowing Kev to retire early enough to enjoy some regular dog life. But Kev is not a regular dog. He loved to work and it was tough for him to make the transition from going to work every day to staying home.
He transitioned by training a new K9 over his last 8 months, but the day came when he was left home; he sat by the door all day, wanting to go to work. It was tough, but he learned his new jobs: protecting the house and his younger sister Bailey (a Beagle Shepherd mix rescue) and being an ambassador to the Cape Coral Police Department. His rewards now are his toys. He visits members of the community to show off his obedience training and educate them about the K9 unit during public demonstrations and “gets lots of attention from kids and people.” “Working dogs need structure,” Aponte says, “and mental exercise as well to keep them healthy.”
Thank you K9 Kevin for being an exemplary working dog by serving and protecting our community, for having transitioned to a gentle ambassador who allows kids to tug on your ears and tail and by bringing smiles to all who meet you and know your story. Enjoy your retirement! We look forward to seeing our Hometown Hero around town!
Statistics from 2009-2016:
Patrol Deployments: 514 Patrol apprehensions: 41
Drug searches: 2222 Resulting in Drug Arrest: 203
His Reliability percentage for training in 8 years was 99.94%
His Reliability percentage for street usages in 8 years was 97.60%
