Died – 2\/27\/19
\nHandler – Officer Brian Hernandez<\/p>\n
Mourners gather to remember town’s first K-9<\/p>\n
Officer Brian Hernandez muted the music on a slideshow and played a recording of the final call for K-9 Django. \u201cK-9 Django has answered the highest call. It\u2019s with great sadness that I announce the passing of Munster Police Department\u2019s first K-9, Django,\u201d the recording states. \u201c\u2026Django was a huge part of our department and will be missed by all of us.\u201d \u201cK-9 Django is 10-42.\u201d Roughly 50 people gathered Wednesday evening at Munster Town Hall for a memorial service for Django. Django, an 8-year-old a Belgian Malinois, died Feb. 27 of cancer. Hernandez was Django\u2019s handler for six years after Django was put into service in 2012 as a dual-purpose detection K-9. He thanked everyone for coming out Wednesday night and for their support. \u201cIt really means a lot to me to see the impact that Django had on the community,\u201d Hernandez said.A slideshow of photos of Django played on a large TV as people hugged and shook hands with Hernandez. They stopped to view a table, with a folded American flag, a tennis ball attached to a rope, a brown box and a photo of Django in a frame with the word \u201cwoof\u201d on it.The room was quiet with people whispering while filing in. A bark from K-9 Briggs broke the silence and the room laughed. Patricia Werner and her 8-year-old daughter, Penelope Werner, of Munster, asked to pet Briggs, who sat by other handlers and their K-9s. The K-9s are much bigger than Penelope\u2019s Havanese dog at home, she said, but she thinks \u201cthe police dogs are cute.\u201d Penelope had seen Django before at Munster\u2019s National Night Out and other town events, so Patricia Werner said she brought her daughter to the memorial service so they could show their support. \u201cHe was a loved dog here in Munster,\u201d Patricia Werner said. \u201cHe\u2019ll be missed.\u201d Officer Joe Stasko, Briggs\u2019 handler at the Lake County Sheriff\u2019s Department, said he had never met Hernandez or Django before Wednesday. There are K-9 units at different departments in the area, but \u201cit\u2019s like one team,\u201d Stasko said. Stasko said he joined the K-9 unit about six months ago with 2-year-old Briggs. While Stasko said officers are cautioned about becoming too close with their K-9s, \u201cit happens.\u201d \u201cHe\u2019s your partner,\u201d Stasko said. The Rev. Bart\u0142omiej Stanowski, of the Camelite Monastery in Munster, said that dogs \u201care always the best friends for us.\u201d \u201cWhat can we take from Django? Loyalty. Courage. Happiness. Friendship,\u201d Stanowski said. Stanowski said a prayer for Django and Hernandez and thanked them for their service to the community. \u201cThat\u2019s like his family. That\u2019s rough,\u201d Dale \u201cDoc\u201d Ready, of Lowell, said about Hernandez. Ready and a handful of others with the Patriot Guard Riders, who attend funerals for first responders and military veterans, sat in the rows behind Hernandez.\u201cAs a Patriot Guard, we looked at these guys just like a guy in uniform,\u201d Ready said about the K-9s. \u201cThey\u2019re an amazing animal.\u201d Ready estimated he\u2019s attended hundreds of funerals, including some for K-9s, in the past. \u201cIt\u2019s an honor for us to be here to do this,\u201d Ready said. Staci Goveia teared up when she talked about the role K-9s have in law enforcement. \u201cThey are part of the family with the officers,\u201d she said. The day before the memorial, Goveia and Protecting K-9 Heroes, an Illinois-based nonprofit that provides vests and other items to keep K-9s safe, gave Hernandez a canvas photo of Django. The photo was on display at the memorial service Wednesday. \u201cThey are four-legged police officers,\u201d Goveia said. Hernandez said that Django was his first K-9, and he hopes that the department will be able to continue the program. \u201cWe\u2019ll find somebody to fill his paw prints,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Died – 2\/27\/19 Handler – Officer Brian Hernandez Mourners gather to remember town’s first K-9 Officer Brian Hernandez muted the music on a slideshow and played a recording of the final call for K-9 Django. \u201cK-9 Django has answered the highest call. It\u2019s with great sadness that I announce the passing of Munster Police Department\u2019s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6679,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-6677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-k9memorial","tag-in"],"yoast_head":"\n