Waukesha K-9 Named After Emma Mertens To Be Sworn In

WAUKESHA, WI— The Waukesha Police Department will swear in three K-9 officers including one named after a little girl who loved dogs.

City of Waukesha Police Chief Daniel P. Thompson will be swearing in the K9 Unit as official working dogs at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Residents are invited to City Hall, 201 Delafield St, in the City Council Chambers.

The Waukesha Police Department started their Canine Unit in 2021 and currently has three canines. The Canine unit is funded entirely through financial and in-kind donations.

K9 Emma is a female Dutch Shepherd Patrol K9. K9 Emma is trained in searches, tracking, suspect apprehension and handler protection.

The dog donation was from Emma Loves Dogs, a foundation honoring the life of Emma Mertens that supports organizations that share her passion for helping animals, such as animal shelters and Police K9 units.

The Hartland girl's story went viral in 2019 when "love letters from dogs" were solicited to lift her spirits. Emma fought a very rare and inoperable brain tumor called DIPG. She died in November 2019 after a courageous battle at 8-years-old.

The Emma Loves Dogs Foundation was created on August 30, 2019 which was Emma's eighth birthday. The foundation's inaugural event — Paws in the Park — celebrated her 9th birthday on Saturday as well as the one-year anniversary of the foundation.

The foundation heard that the city of Waukesha was without a police K9. Together with the help of Crossroads K9 Rescue, the foundation donated a K9 named Emma to the department.

Geoff Mertens, Emma's Father and President of the Emma Loves Dogs Foundation, said in August the foundation is beyond honored to be able to help Waukesha Police.

“We are proud to help the City of Waukesha establish their first Police K9 program. The fact that the first K9 is named in honor of our Emma, is overwhelming," he told Patch.

K9 Emma is handled by Officer Jeremy Bousman.

K9 Arko is a male Belgian Malinois. K9 Arko is a Patrol K9 trained in searches, tracking, suspect apprehension and handler protection. A donor wished to purchase a patrol K9 for our department and made K9 Arko possible for our agency. K9 Arko is handled by Officer Nate Smidt.

K9 Ryker is a male Black Lab who is trained to search for missing endangered people such as missing children or missing elderly people. K9 Ryker is also trained in electronics detection. K9 Ryker is handled by Specialist Niki Nelson.

K9 Ryker and Specialist Nelson work closely with our Internet Crimes Against Children Detectives. This allows K9 Ryker to locate electronic evidence, focusing on child predators, who often hid their files on small devices which are nearly impossible to locate. K9 Ryker is only the fourth dog in the state trained to do this. K9 Ryker was made possible through donations.

Pet Supplies Plus of Brookfield is providing all of the dog food for the Canine Unit. Animal Wellness Center- Waukesha is providing veterinary care for the canines, police said.

As the Canine Unit is not funded with tax dollars, donations are always accepted at the police department. Checks can be made to out to Waukesha Police Department Canine Unit.

For more information visit the City of Waukesha's Police Facebook page.