Newtown Police Welcome Newest (And Furriest) Member on Force

NEWTOWN SQUARE–The introduced its newest four-legged addition to the police force at Monday night's supervisors meeting.

Falco is a 22-month-old German Shepherd and a native of Holland. Officer Jeff Johnson introduced Falco to the Board of Supervisors and to the public on Monday night. Johnson and Falco had just returned from six weeks of training.

Johnson said the commands are spoken in German to Falco because "most bad guys aren't German and don't understand German."

According to Lt. Chris Lunn, Johnson and Falco trained for 300 hours in Narcotics Detection and Patrol, which includes handler protection, tracking, and article, area, and building searches. They have been certified by the North American Police Work Dog Association (NAPWDA). 

The $12,000 raised to purchase Falco and pay for the six weeks of training in western Pennsylvania was donated to the police department by businesses and private parties from the community, said Lunn.

Falco recently visited with Johnson to perform a locker search for drugs, which came out negative.

Falco lives with Johnson and his family full time and reports for duty with him. Falco currently trains at the Garrett-Williamson property and in Newtown Square.

All of Falco's food and living expenses are provided through donations by the Newtown Township Police Fund. If you would like to donate towards Falco, contact the police department at 610-356-0200.