Largest Class of New Teams in MSP History 

The Michigan State Police (MSP) is pleased to announce that Michigan citizens will soon benefit from the services of 12 new canine teams, as well one replacement team, that graduated from the MSP 2017 Basic Canine School last week, the largest class of new teams in the department’s history.

With this graduating class, the MSP has 43 canine teams strategically placed throughout the state whose handlers answer calls for service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The unit handles more than 6,000 requests for service annually, making it one of the largest and busiest in the country.

“Our canine teams cover every area of this great state, providing an invaluable service to our law enforcement partners and the people who call Michigan home,” said Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue, director of the MSP. “Today is another proud day for the department. This class has the distinction of being the largest held and also during our 100th Anniversary year.”

The Basic Canine School is a 14-week intense training program conducted in-house by veteran MSP Canine Unit members. The handlers received more than 500 hours of instruction and the canine teams covered more than 100 miles on foot as they received training in various disciplines including tracking, narcotics detection, building search, area search, property search, obedience and aggression.

The last Basic Canine School graduation was in December 2015, when six new teams graduated.

The MSP Canine Unit was established in 1960. Nearly all of its canines are German shepherds due to the breed’s ability to handle the various functions and stress with intelligent problem-solving abilities and a high work drive. The unit provides services in explosive, accelerant and cadaver detection, as well as the tactical entry dog program, which provides services to the MSP Emergency Support Team.

Within the last year, the unit added two black labs to focus specifically on evolving crimes. One is trained to detect explosives in motion and one is trained to identify high-tech evidence like computer equipment.

The MSP 2017 Basic Canine School graduates include:

Replacement Canine School Graduates

Michigan State Police (MSP) Director Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue is pleased to announce that Michigan citizens will soon benefit from the services of 12 canine teams, including eight new teams and four replacement teams, who graduated from the MSP 2013 Basic Canine School.

This graduating class brings the total number of MSP canine teams to 49, which is an historic high for the department. The MSP Canine Unit responds to approximately 5,600 calls annually making it one of the largest and busiest in the country.

The Basic Canine School is a 14-week intense training program conducted in-house by veteran MSP Canine Unit members. The handlers and their canines covered more than 100 miles on foot during the training, which covered subjects including tracking, narcotics detection, building search, area search, property search, obedience and aggression. Additionally, the handlers received more than 100 hours of classroom instruction.

These teams will join other Canine Unit team members who are strategically placed throughout the state for calls for service. The unit also provides services in explosive detection, accelerant detection, cadaver detection and the tactical entry dog program, which provides services to the MSP Emergency Support Team.

The MSP Canine Unit was established in 1960. All of the unit’s canines are German shepherds due to the breed’s ability to handle the various functions and stress with intelligent problem-solving abilities and a high work drive. The MSP’s canines retire to their handler or another loving person’s home after working eight years.

A replacement team is where a veteran handler trains with a new partner to replace a retiring canine. The four recently retired canines reside with their handlers.

The last Basic Canine School graduation was in August 2012 when five new teams graduated.

The graduates include:

Basic Canine School Graduates

Tpr. Bryon Bierema, Hank, Fifth District Headquarters

Tpr. Ben Bordner, Smoke, Eighth District Headquarters

Tpr. Kyle Kelley, Bach, Seventh District Headquarters;

Tpr. Denis McGuckin, Jax, Tri-City Post

Tpr. Jereme Miller, Dakota, Coldwater Post

Tpr. Nolan Przybylo, Hondo, Metro Post

Tpr. Michael Sinke, Murph, Fifth District Headquarters

Tpr. Benjamin Sonstrom, Otto, Second District Headquarters

Replacement Canine School Graduates

Tpr. Michael Bush, Shep, Rockford Post

Tpr. Kris Mikowski, Ammo, Cadillac Post

Tpr. Joel Service, Pitch, Niles Post

Tpr. John Sholtz, Enzo, Lapeer Post