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On Wednesday, December 7, 2016, Honorable Charles M. Christner, District Justice, administrated the Oath of Office to K-9 Duvall, the newest member of the Rostraver Police Department.

The swearing-in ceremony for K-9 Duvall

His handler and partner, Officer Joseph Spinola, stood by K-9 Duvall’s side.

Before the swearing-in ceremony, Rostraver Police Chief Greg Resetar gave a speech and thanked the generous donors for the re-implementation of the department’s K-9 program.

Mrs. Allison Tucker and Dr. Charles Tucker are the persons responsible for submitting a grant recommendation, through the Pittsburgh Foundation, for the acquisition of K-9 Duvall along with nominal start up fees from the Charles P. and Allison C. Tucker Family Fund. Casey Harper donated a new 2017 Ford Explorer for the K-9 patrol vehicle. Two donations were made in memory of loved ones that were taken from this life way too soon to purchase a ballistic/stab resistant vest for the K-9 and the K-9 containment system. Monetary donations were received from the Belle Vernon Rotary, Pricedale Russian Club, Bigg’s Trucking and Sanitation, Saving Grace Defibrillators, and Mr. Daniel McCartan.

In addition to the monetary donations, Officer Steve Sholtis and Lieutenant John Christner applied for the Thomas Nega Drug-Free Lifestyle Grant through Westmoreland Drug and Alcohol Commission. Tractor Supply donated dog food for the duty life of K-9 Duvall. Valley Veterinary will continue to provide cost-effective veterinary care and contacting Merial Company, who will be donating maintenance drugs for the duty life of K-9 Duvall.

“In this day and age of police relations with the public, we at the Rostraver Police Department feel blessed and privileged to work in a community that appreciates and supports our efforts. A sense of comfort comes with everyone mentioned here because you reached out to support your police department. This makes it special because there was no soliciting on our part and for this, and we thank you,” stated Chief Resetar.

K-9 Duvall is the fifth K-9 to serve Rostraver Township since the inception of the police department. Duvall is 14 months old and was imported from the Netherlands. K-9 Duvall was chosen after it was learned that he possessed the proper drives and characteristics in the areas of tracking, area search, article search, building search, criminal apprehension, obedience work and narcotics detection in respect to marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and all their derivatives.