In 2006, Officer Adam Wade began serving the WPD. He is a member of SERT (Special Emergency Response Team), is a Crisis Intervention Team officer and Master Patrol Officer. He started in the K-9 Unit in January 2011.

Officer Wade’s K-9 partner is Gunner, a 16-month-old German Shepherd from Europe. He was purchased from Faus K9 Facility in Elkhart, IN. Officer Wade and K-9 Gunner trained together at Faus K9 Facility for six weeks and during the last week, they trained and certified through NAPWDA (North American Police Work Dog Association) in narcotics detection, tracking, article search, area/building search, handler protection, apprehension and obedience. Additionally, K-9 Gunner is trained in verbal and hand signals. His commands are in the German language.

The K-9 Unit is on-call 24/7 and is utilized in a number of situations including checking vehicles and buildings for narcotics, tracking down fleeing fugitives, searching businesses for burglary suspects and tracking down lost children. They are constantly in training and are not only utilized by our agency but also by surrounding agencies when needed.

Police dogs are trained to be sociable and allowed to be in and around the general public. If you happen to see Officer Wade and K-9 Gunner out in the community, please ask Officer Wade if it is alright to approach K-9 Gunner. Although K-9 Gunner is socialized, he may be working and concentrating on his commands received from Officer Wade.