CLEARLAKE, Calif. – At Thursday's Clearlake City Council meeting, the Clearlake Police Department introduced a new officer, honored another for outstanding work and bid farewell to two retiring police K9s.

Acting Chief Tim Celli made the presentations, and starting off by introducing Jared Nixon, the agency's newest officer.

Nixon, 26, had been with the city for 10 weeks and currently is in the field officer training program. He's a military veteran, having served five years as a hospital corpsman, and he attended Santa Rosa Junior College.

Celli also introduced Officer Joseph Myers, presenting him with a certificate of commendation for his work to investigate an armed robbery at Bank of the West in July.

Myers' efforts contributed to the arrest in October of suspect Samuel Campbell, who the Federal Bureau of Investigation took into custody in Flint, Mich.

Celli said Myers investigated the armed robbery and worked every available lead, reaching out to the FBI for its assistance.

Latent fingerprints taken at the bank were sent to the California Department of Justice lab, which identified them as belonging to Campbell, a former New York resident who had been staying in Clearlake, according to Celli.

In November the Clearlake Police Department received a letter from Bank of the West commending Myers for his work, and describing his efforts to keep the bank informed throughout the investigation.

“Had it not been for your dedication to the city and this investigation, it's possible an arrest would not have been made,” Celli said before shaking Myers' hand.

Celli then introduced the retiring K9 teams, Sgt. Travis Lenz and Dex, and Det. Elvis Cook and Max. Both dogs are Belgian Malinois.

Lenz and Cook themselves aren't retiring but going on to other assignments, but their four-legged partners will be hanging up their badges. Celli said the department has plans to acquire new police K9s.

Lenz started with the department in 2009, and Dex – trained in apprehension and narcotics detection – arrived in 2010. They were paired in 2014, Celli said.

Cook joined the Clearlake Police Department in 2011, coming from the Lake County Sheriff's Office, where he had experience as a K9 handler. In 2012 he was paired with Max, who Celli said had been donated by another law enforcement agency.

“Sgt. Lenz and Det. Cook are specifically trained to assist patrol officers and other law enforcement personnel in their work, searching for lost people, looking for crime scene evidence and protecting the public,” Celli said.

Celli said k9 handlers must be flexible in thinking and able to make decisions on the fly, and work long and strenuous hours.

“As a police K9 officer you have to learn to think differently, not as a police officer with a dog, but as a dog handler,” Celli said.

He said the teams have been extremely successful, with both both Lenz and Cook having excellent work records. They've succeeded in getting numerous suspect surrenders and narcotics detections.

Also important are their public demonstrations, as Celli said it's vital to the success of a good K9 program to get public support.

Celli presented plaques to the teams. He explained that Cook has been promoted to detective and Lenz has been promoted to sergeant, and also is taking over the duties of the K9 supervisor.

Both men purchased the dogs, who will stay with them for the rest of their lives, Celli said.

Mayor Russ Perdock called for a break so the officers and their families could take pictures, and both dogs got hugs from the officers' children.

The Clearlake Police K9 Program can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CPDK9/?fref=ts .

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.