KIMBALL -- The Kimball Police Department revealed this week that their dual-purpose K9 could not pass state certification and is no longer with the department.  

Trudy is a Belgian Malinois who was being trained as a dual-purpose K9 to detect narcotics and apprehend a suspect. 

The department received Trudy as a donation from Ragnar Defense, who Trudy and the department’s other K9 Lucy, trained with, said Chief of Police Jose Ruiz. 

The Kimball City Council approved the purchase of a second K9 in July 2024; however, those funds were actually put toward the K9 handler school that Officer Luft attended to be certified as Lucy’s handler. 

The pair had done extensive training together and even passed the initial certification in Wyoming; however, after a few attempts at the Nebraska State Certification, Trudy could not pass. 

The department decided to retire her and send her back to Ragnar Defense. 

“That’s what happens with dogs, you can’t really say how they will do when it comes to certification,” Ruiz said. “Just like what could happen with police officers – we screen them, look at their backgrounds ... they look good and then they get to the academy, and they fail out. It’s one of those things that you can’t predict what’s going to happen.” 

The department is looking for grants and donations to raise funds for a replacement dual-purpose K9. 

Ruiz said that Luft is looking into a grant that will be awarded early next year for up to $7,000. 

“If we get a new K9, it will be through BlueStreak K9, which is a vendor out of Arkansas that the State Patrol already uses because those dogs are trained to Nebraska certification standards,” Ruiz said. 

Luft would attend the K9 handler school through the same company, and they would still go through the Nebraska State Certification process after the initial certification. 

The cost of a dual-purpose K9 from BlueStreak K9 is $14,500. 

“I think having both single and dual-purpose dogs are extremely important because they are both served for different purposes,” Ruiz said.