WACO, Texas — On May 11 at 2 p.m., a K9 Memorial Dedication will be conducted at the Waco Police Department, as stated by Waco PD.
Two K9s of the Waco Police Department, K9 Kempi and K9 Kastor, will be honored during Wednesday's ceremony.
A Dutch at heart, K9 Kempi was born in the Netherlands. He was a Personal Protection Dog when he initially arrived in the United States. He and his owner were involved in a helicopter crash while serving as a personal protection dog. Kempi's owner died, and his family decided it was best to return him to the kennel where he was bought.
He was no longer utilized as a personal security dog, but according to police, the kennel thought he would make an excellent police dog. In March of 2014, K9 Kempi joined the Waco Police Department and was assigned to Officer Darlington.
K9 Kempi received dual-purpose certification. He was an expert in narcotics detection and police work. During his career, K9 Kempi was responsible for the discovery of about $35,147.00 in narcotics from March 2014 to Nov. 2020. K9 Kempi was also responsible for 112 arrests and was enjoying his retirement before passing away.
The other K9 being honored is K9 Kastor.
K9 Kastor was born in Hungary on Dec 26, 2015. He worked for the Waco Police Department from March 2015 through Oct 2018. From March 2017 through Jan 2018, Kastor worked alongside Officer Roy Woodruff (retired). From Jan 2018 to Oct 2018, he worked alongside K9 Officer Micheal Bucher, who was slain in the line of duty.
Kastor was a narcotics detection and patrol K9, according to Waco PD. On June 14, 2018, he graduated as a certified Street K9 after four months of training. From June 14, 2018 through Oct15, 2018, Kastor and his handler conducted 75 searches for narcotics and located narcotics in 49 of those searches. During those searches, Kastor seized $20,755 in narcotics.
K9 Kastor was shot and killed in 2018 after inadvertently biting his handler on the inner thigh during a warrant service in the 2000 block of Seneca Avenue, according to police reports.
For more information on the funeral, visit the Waco Police Department Facebook.