New DuPage Co. police dog named after officer killed while on duty

The DuPage County sheriff's office unveiled their newest police dog on Monday, a floppy-eared bloodhound puppy named Jake.

Usually the department would hold a community contest to pick a new police dog's name, but instead the 9-week-old puppy will be named after Special Deputy U.S. Marshal Jacob Keltner, who was killed in the line of duty at 35 years old on March 7, 2019.

The DuPage County sheriff's office received the blessing of the Keltner family to name the new police dog in his memory, according to a news release issued by the department Monday.

Jake the dog will embark on a yearlong training program starting Wednesday. When he's ready for duty, he will be tasked with helping his human partner sniff out clues as well as people who don't want to be found.

Keltner was on a U.S. Marshals Service task force assigned to arrest a Springfield man at a Rockford hotel who was wanted in a string of downstate burglaries. Floyd E. Brown was convicted of first-degree murder in Keltner's death in April.