NYPD K-9 Units honored for Crucial Role in Securing Paris Olympics
New York City police officers and their K-9 partners, instrumental in ensuring the safety of the recent Paris Games, were recognized for their vital contributions. The elite teams were deployed to patrol the Olympic grounds, tasked with the critical mission of detecting explosives.
The scale of the security operation for the paris Olympics was immense, as highlighted by Consul General Céderik Fouriscot. He addressed the officers, emphasizing the notable challenges in safeguarding approximately 15,000 athletes, 45,000 volunteers, and an estimated 11 million spectators. Fouriscot lauded the NYPD K-9 units, stating, “The Paris game went off perfectly, and I want to say that you are an integral part of this success.”
The extensive security requirements for hosting the Olympics necessitated French authorities seeking assistance from international law enforcement agencies. French authorities’ liaison to the NYPD, Police Commander Jean-François Meunier, explained the specific request for canine units, noting, “we asked especially for dogs because we didn’t have enough dogs to cover all the Olympic sites.”
The NYPD officers and their K-9 counterparts are highly trained in bomb detection, with the dogs specializing in identifying the chemical signatures of explosives. honoree Velez, 52, who has as retired from the force along with his K-9 Rico, described the training process: “We take the odor and tie it to a toy, like a ball, and its just repetition. The odor is just different chemical explosives.”
One of the honored officers, Finamore, was present without his K-9 partner, Gunner, who passed away in February.Finamore, who has sence transitioned from the NYPD to the Clarkstown Police Department in Rockland County, shared the profound impact of losing his canine companion. “He was a perfectly healthy German Shepherd. Got blood cancer and was gone in three months. It’s been brutal. He was my buddy for six years. He was the greatest dog. He was my life,” Finamore recounted.
Paris represents one of five international locations where the NYPD provides outsourced assistance, alongside London, Madrid, INTERPOL, and EUROPOL.Detective Nicolas gouzien, the NYPD’s liaison to Paris and Monaco, described these engagements as “operational exchange, details sharing. Share best practices and this is done on a daily basis.”
Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner underscored the meaning of this collaboration, stating, “It’s a great inflection point in our relationship between NYPD and French law enforcement. this was an opportunity to showcase specialty capabilities that the NYPD has and the whole world was watching our canines protect the games in an incredibly complex threat habitat.” She concluded by emphasizing, “It was a tremendous honor and opportunity for the NYPD.”