N.W. suburban K-9 handlers fundraising for family

A group of Northwest suburban police K-9 handlers is raising funds to help the family of a Terre Haute, Ind., police dog handler who died on the job last month.

K-9 officers with Elk Grove Village, Arlington Heights and Bolingbrook police departments are collecting funds through the end of August for the Brent Long Memorial Fund.

Long, 34, was shot and killed July 11 while helping a fugitive task force serve a high-risk arrest warrant. His police dog also was shot but survived.

Elk Grove Village police officer Rick Meyers, one of two K-9 handlers with that department, said it could just as easily have been him or any of his counterparts in that situation.

“I have a wife and kids, and it's not something I like to think about when I leave for work, but it's definitely a possibility,” Meyers said.

Some of the K-9 handlers with the Northern Illinois Multi Police Agency Canine Training Group knew Long because they trained together and many area departments purchased their dogs from the same kennel, Vohne Liche Kennels, in Indiana.#8220;It's a very close-knit group,#8221; Meyers said.Later this month, Meyers will go to Indiana with his police dog, a Belgian shepherd dog named Vasco, to compete in the kennel's annual K-9 Olympics.#8220;Every year, we have to go back down to recertify the dogs and we also compete in the K-9 Olympics,#8221; he said.Among the games at the weeklong competition starting Aug. 29 is a 1.5-mile obstacle course which the dog and handler run together. They climb ladders, swing over a lake on a rope, and handlers carrying their dogs for the last 100 yards. The competition draws police dogs from throughout the world.Meyers and fellow K-9 handlers with Arlington Heights and Bolingbrook have been soliciting colleagues, family and friends to sponsor them in the competition. All proceeds will benefit the Brent Long Memorial Fund. The officers will deliver the money to Long's wife, Danielle, a Terre Haute Police Department dispatcher, and her children, Ashley, 11, and Levi, 10 months old. Meyers said his personal goal is to raise $1,000. He has so far collected $500 from family and friends.#8220;We're just trying to get the word out to try and help benefit this family,#8221; Meyers said. Checks should be made payable to the Brent D. Long Memorial Fund and mailed to Officer Richard Meyers, Elk Grove Village Police Department, 901 Wellington Ave., Elk Grove Village, IL 60007, by Aug. 22.