Kimball Police’s first K9 receives state certification

KIMBALL -- The Kimball Police Department officially has a certified K9 partnership. 

KPD’s yellow Labrador Retriever Lucy and her handler Sergeant Jose Barboza went to North Platte August 19 where they completed and passed Nebraska’s State Patrol Certification. 

Lucy started her training in February 2024 after she was sworn in as Kimball’s first “Pawlice” Officer.  

She initially completed her certification at Ragnar Defense in Wyoming in October 2024 where she was trained to detect seven narcotics including: Cocaine, Methamphetamine, ecstasy, Heroin, Fentanyl, and marijuana. 

Sergeant Barboza also went to Ragnar Defense for handler school where he completed his own training before the two went on to prepare for the Nebraska State Certification. 

Nebraska is one of three states that requires its own certification where both the K9 and the handler are evaluated as a team. 

“Now that she is state certified, she is good to be deployed on calls,” Ruiz said. 

Friday marked Lucy’s first official deployment when she and Sergeant Barboza assisted in a stop, which did not result in any discovery of narcotics. 

“I’m very proud of them; it took a lot of hours of training, and they put in the effort and made it happen,” Ruiz said. “It’s very exciting for the department to have its first K9 program.”