Bergen County Sheriff’s Office Holds K-9 Graduation; Promotes Corrections Officer to Sergeant

Hackensack, N.J. – This morning the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office held a graduation ceremony for the Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 Training Academy. The graduation featured the 6th Patrol Class and 8th Scent Class since the Academy’s creation in 2012 and was led under the direction of Lt. Timothy Scannell, with the assistance of assistant trainers Ofc. Marcelo Hagopian and Ofc. Joseph Cutrona.

Family members, friends, local dignitaries, and law enforcement colleagues gathered to support Basic Patrol Class 18-01 which was comprised the following three officers:

• BCSO Ofc. Sohrab Muossavian and his canine Cash,
• BCSO Ofc. Justin Epifano and his canine Johny,
• Clinton Township Police Sgt. John Tiger and his canine Tapko

BCSO K-9 Officers Marcelo Hagopian & Joseph Cutrona also received their K-9 Trainer Certifications for “Scent Detection” and are now qualified to supervise classes at the Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 Training Academy.

“The Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 Academy ranks among the most elite in all of New Jersey. The graduates and their canine partners were truly pushed to the limits as they underwent this rigorous physical and academic training over the course of the last nine months. On behalf of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, I congratulate Basic Patrol Class 18-01 and Basic Scent Class 19-01 for their excellent work and dedication. We look forward to the deployment of these new teams as they work to keep our communities safe,” said Sheriff Anthony Cureton.

The Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 Training Academy has trained eighty-one canines and their handlers from multiple local, county, state, and federal agencies at the Bergen County Sheriff’s K-9 Training Academy.  The Bergen County Sheriff’s Office has one of the largest and most active K-9 units in the state, performing over 1,500 K-9 calls for service.

The ceremony also included the promotion of BCSO’s newest correction Sergeant, Rae Mari Troyer and the first presentation of the new BCSO employee of the month program which was awarded to IT Unit Professional Peter Townes.