The Seabrook Board of Selectmen, at their March 5, 2018 meeting, were introduced to the Seabrook Police Department’s newest addition, K-9 Dog Henry. The K-9 Program was brought back to Seabrook by the Board of Selectmen, who authorized the initial funding. The project is an initiative of Chief Michael Gallagher, who designated Officer David Hersey as Seabrook’s dog officer. Henry is an approximately 20-month-old Belgian Malinois. Officer Hersey and Henry graduated from the Boston Police Canine Academy in December 2017 and are a patrol certified police canine team. Currently Henry can do article searches (such as for evidence of a crime like a mask, clothing, knives, firearms, wallet, etc), area searches, building searches, tracking (like a missing person), and apprehension (assisting in taking a person into custody). Henry lives with Officer Hersey and they have formal training 8 to 16 hours per month. Officer Hersey and Henry train while off-duty, as well. Officer Hersey and Henry will be attending training in August to become certified in detecting narcotics. Officer Hersey and Henry are currently assigned to the evening patrol shift. Officer Hersey says Henry has adjusted well to family life as well as police work and is proving to be a valuable asset to the Seabrook PD. Henry’s capabilities as a police canine will continue to improve as he matures and gains more experience in the field. Funding for the Seabrook PD canine program was provided by a grant from the Stanton Foundation as well as the estate of Elmo D’Alessandro.
