Pleasant Hill Police Dept. bids farewell to K-9 officer Bodie
PLEASANT HILL, CA (July 21, 2024) — It is with great sadness that the Pleasant Hill Police Department announced the passing of its police K-9 Bodie. Bodie’s end of watch came July 6, after an unexpected health complication while off-duty.
Bodie, a Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherd mix, was born in the Netherlands on January 30, 2017. The department purchased Bodie from Adlerhorst International, based in Riverside, California, in March 2020. After 6 weeks of intensive training with Cpl. Andrew Kuhn, Bodie was certified and began service on patrol that May, according to Sgt. Ron Priebe, who oversees Pleasant Hill’s K-9 Unit.
PHPD’s K-9 started unit in 2004 and Bodie and Cpl. Kuhn were the 6th K-9 team in the unit’s history. Until recently, the agency maintained two K-9/handler teams on patrol. Unfortunately, due to current staffing limitations, Priebe noted the department hasn’t been able to move forward with testing for new handlers and dogs since Bodie and Cpl. Kuhn’s fellow team K-9 team retired.
No formal plans for a memorial are yet in place but Priebe said it is being discussed. “We’ve never had a memorial for past K-9s, but we do have photos of all the handlers and their dogs in one of our hallways at the station. We also make memorial plaques for our handlers when the dogs either retire or pass,” he added.
Many in his community will remember Bodie from his regular appearances as part of the annual National Night Out events. Please join the Pleasant Hill Police in thanking K-9 Bodie for his service to the community.