Spokane Police Department K9 Unit

SPD welcomes its newest member of the K9 Unit, Bruin

The Spokane Police Department welcomed its newest member of the K9 Unit, Bruin. Bruin, an energetic two-year-old from the Netherlands and his handler, Detective Tiffany Austin, recently went through a 10-week school in Alabama and are now certified as a WAC explosives detection K9 team.

Rest in Peace, Jango.

It is with an extremely heavy 💔 that we share in the passing of Project K-9 Hero Program Member #373, K-9 “Jango.”

K-9 Jango, was a 3-year-old male Belgian Malinois, who honorably served with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, for 1.5 years as a Patrol K-9, until an on-duty incident in November of 2025, left him paralyzed and unable to breathe on his own.

During his short, but productive career, K-9 Jango was deployed twenty times, and was responsible for eleven criminal finds, as well as one physical bite apprehension. K-9 Jango worked with Spokane County’s SWAT Team, where he specialized in High-Risk Tactical Operations, Search Warrants, Building Searches, Rappelling, plus Helicopter Operations and Hoisting.

On the night of his career ending injury, Jango ran thru a commercial grade double pane glass window in the dark, which left him unconscious and unable to breathe. The handler performed CPR on the scene, and all the way to the ER, in an attempt to save his partner’s life. Once they arrived, and they were able to get Jango stable, the ER Veterinary Staff immediately got him intubated, where a tube was placed in his trachea (windpipe) to maintain an open airway for delivering the oxygen he needed to survive.

PK9H was able to step up and pay the approximately $150 a day for the rehabilitation process while Jango fought for his life. That included the supplies needed, tubing, physical therapy, and 24 hour veterinary care from his doctor.

Please take a moment to mourn in the loss of K-9 Jango. We were honored to be protecting him, after all that he had been through fighting for his life, after protecting our communities and nation 🇺🇸! -

WWW.PROJECTK9HERO.ORG

Congrats to Ofc. Lequire and Ronin on completing the Basic K9 Handler course. This class was hosted by the Spokane County Sheriff's Office, and was attended by teams from all over the state.

Viper 🐍